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LONDON - Defending champion Jannik Sinner battled into another Wimbledon semi-final with a straight-sets victory over Jan-Lennard Struff, reported PA Media/dpa.
Sinner, who could face seven-time champion Novak Djokovic next, fought off the challenge of veteran German Struff, winning 7-5, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3.
The top seed has not dropped a set since being taken to five in the opening round by Miomir Kecmanovic but he is yet to find his best form and this was another contest that proved more difficult than it might have been.
Sinner made 26 unforced errors and had to save a set point in the second set against a player ranked 74 and making his grand slam quarter-final debut.
At 36, Struff was the oldest man to reach this stage at a major for the first time in the open era having defeated eighth seed Daniil Medvedev and claimed three five-set victories.
The German acquitted himself very well and matched Sinner until the 24-year-old found a precision return to break serve for the first time in the 11th game.
Struff’s power and ability at the net caused problems for Sinner, who could not find a rhythm.
The Italian broke through again to lead 2-1 in the second set, only for some big hitting from Struff to help him hit straight back.
Only a very fortunate mishit forehand that dropped inside the baseline prevented Sinner from being in real trouble in his next service game, while his own serving helped him save a set point at 5-4.
Sinner locked in in the tie-break, serving brilliantly, and he finally began to look more comfortable in the third set.
"First of all a very, very tough player to play against,” said Sinner. "He deserves everything he has done and achieved in his career. Great person off the court.
"In the beginning I felt like he started better than me, I was struggling a bit. I tried to get into the match, I was serving a bit better, tried to stay there mentally, and of course very happy to be back in the semi-finals here.”
It is the third time in the last four years Sinner has reached the last four at Wimbledon and the ninth time in the last 11 grand slams.
The big anomaly, of course, was his second-round heat-affected loss at the recent French Open, but he negotiated another warm day in London with no problems.
Asked about his Paris troubles, Sinner said with a wry smile: "Thanks for reminding.
"We worked a lot, especially after Paris, trying to understand what went wrong there. It was a huge test today. I felt really comfortable on the physical side today so a big step forward.” - BERNAMA
