Daniil Medvedev avenges Australian Open loss to top seed Jannik Sinner at Wimbledon

Daniil Medvedev snapped a five-match losing streak to Jannik Sinner, stunning the world No. 1, 6-7 (7), 6-4, 7-6 (4), 2-6, 6-3 to reach a second straight semifinal at Wimbledon.

The former world No. 1 won his first six matches against Sinner but has struggled against his Italian rival in the last 12 months, most notably in the finals of the Australian Open, where he lost from two sets up. Down a set on Tuesday, the fifth-seeded Medvedev turned the tables on the top seed to advance in exactly four hours beneath the Centre Court roof.

Medvedev looked solid throughout his first four matches at this year’s Championships, his only stumble coming in the second round against Alexandre Muller; the 28-year-old nearly fell behind two sets to the inspired Frenchman before roaring back in four. He shook off a similar hiccup in a rain-delayed third round against Jan-Lennard Struff and was only eight games into his fourth round against Grigor Dimitrov before the No. 10 seed was forced to retire after slipping on the grass.

The 2021 US Open champion enjoyed his best Wimbledon result last year when he reached the last four, falling to eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz; the two may yet reunite in the semis should the Spaniard get past streaking American Tommy Paul, but Medvedev first had to get past Sinner, the reigning Australian Open champion, the most consistent player on tour, and one who has unequivocally had his number since last fall.

It was hard to remember a time when Sinner struggled to muster sets—much less matches—against Medvedev, but the 22-year-old set to work on flipping that head-to-head in the China Open finals where he got his first win over Medvedev. Repeating the result twice more over the next two months in Vienna and at the Nitto ATP Finals, he captured his first major title in Melbourne with back-to-back victories over defending champion Novak Djokovic and Medvedev, the latter coming within two games of victory in the third set.

Sinner went on to win his second Masters 1000 title at the Miami Open, dropping just three games to Medvedev in the semis, and ascended to world No. 1 at Roland Garros when he reached the semifinals.

Though the young Italian lost in five sets to Carlos Alcaraz, Sinner made a seamless transition to grass, winning his fourth title of the year at the Terra Wortmann Open in Halle and easing into the quarterfinals at the All England Club with the loss of just two sets. After going for against both Yannick Hanfmann and 2021 Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini, he stormed past Miomir Kecmanovic and held off a surging Ben Shelton in a third set tiebreaker.

Sinner looked equally strong in the first set’s Sudden Death against Medvedev, shaking off an ill-timed double fault to clinch it on his second set point, when Medvedev threw in a nervy double fault of his own.

On course for a sixth straight defeat to Sinner, Medvedev remained calm long enough to score the first break of the match, converting as the Italian erred off the forehand side. Though Sinner prevented a double-break deficit, Medvedev remained in front without facing a break point, striking an ace to level the match at one set apiece.

Down another break to start the third, Sinner took a worrying medical timeout that took him off the court following a check of his blood pressure. Sinner, who watched girlfriend Anna Kalinskaya retire due to injury against Elena Rybakina yesterday, soldiered on upon his return, winning 12 of 14 points to nab his Medvedev break as he served for a two-set lead and reel off three straight games from 3-5 down.

Serving to stay in the set, Medvedev saved two set points to force another tiebreaker and took the first mini-break, finally securing the two-set advantage off a well-struck serve.

As Rod Laver looked on, Sinner got off to a much better start in the fourth set, landing a clean drop shot to break early and ultimately race out to a 5-1 lead on a befuddled Medvedev, who found himself looking at playing a deciding set.

Still, it was Medvedev who made the first move in the fifth, taking a 0-40 lead on Sinner’s serve and breaking off a forehand miss from the Italian. Navigating five deuces on his own serve, Medvedev consolidated off another error from Sinner, who served two games from defeat.

Though Sinner kept things close, Medvedev calmly served for the match, overpowering the top seed to earn three match points, converting his first on the four-hour mark with a slick backhand winner.

Medvedev will await the winner of Alcaraz (Alcaraz leads 4-2) and Paul (Medvedev leads 3-1), as they face off on No. 1 Court.