LONDON, (Reuters) – Italian 10th seed Jannik Sinner produced one of the best performances of his young career to oust Spanish teen sensation Carlos Alcaraz in four sets at Wimbledon yesterday and advance to his maiden quarter-final at the grasscourt major.
The 20-year-old raced to a two-set lead before Alcaraz edged the third-set tiebreak in front of a raucous Centre Court crowd. Sinner, however, responded in style and broke his fifth-seeded opponent early in the fourth, winning 6-1 6-4 6-7(8) 6-3.
He next faces defending champion Novak Djokovic, who overcame a mid-match wobble to eliminate Dutch wildcard Tim van Rijthoven 6-2 4-6 6-1 6-2 and stay on course for a seventh Wimbledon crown and 21st Grand Slam title. There was joy for the home fans as ninth seed Cameron Norrie reached the last eight of a major for the first time after breezing past American Tommy Paul 6-4 7-5 6-4, while David Goffin overcame Frances Tiafoe 7-6(3) 5-7 5-7 6-4 7-5.
Tunisian third seed Ons Jabeur was among the big winners in the women’s draw, grinding out a 7-6(9) 6-4 win against Belgian Elise Mertens to set up a last-eight clash with Marie Bouzkova, who saw off Caroline Garcia.
It was the end of the road for former Roland Garros winner Jelena Ostapenko after she blew a one-set advantage to go down 5-7 7-5 7-5 to 34-year-old German Tatjana Maria, the oldest player left in the draw.
