Medvedev outlasts Sinner to reach Wimbledon semi-final

LONDON :Fifth seed Daniil Medvedev edged out ailing world number one Jannik Sinner in a grinding five-set battle to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals for the second successive year on Tuesday.

A strange match full of momentum shifts and lulls was absorbing rather than thrilling but Medvedev did not care as he triumphed 6-7(7) 6-4 7-6(4) 2-6 6-3 on a covered Centre Court.

It snapped Medvedev's five-match losing sequence to Sinner and avenged his bitter defeat by the Italian in this year's Australian Open final when he squandered a two-set lead.

Medvedev, who is bidding to add to his 2021 U.S. Open title, will face either defending champion Carlos Alcaraz or American Tommy Paul in his ninth Grand Slam semi-final.

"I knew if I wanted to beat Jannik it needs to be a tough match. He's not any more a guy you can beat easy," the engaging 28-year-old Medvedev said on court.

"It's actually very tough. One moment I could feel that he doesn't move that well so it's always tricky because you want to play more points to make him suffer a little bit more. In a good way.

"But you know at one point he was like 'OK I can't run anymore and I'll go full power' and that's what he did."

Top seed Sinner, who fell at the semi-final stage last year to Novak Djokovic, won the opening set in a tight tiebreak after saving a set point.

But mistakes began to creep into his game, and after losing the second set courtesy of a sloppy service game he required medical attention early after dropping serve at 1-1 in the third and disappeared off court, apparently feeling ill.

Sinner looked groggy on his return but suddenly snapped back to life and hit back from 5-3 down in the third set with some crisp hitting as Medvedev's game went off the boil.

But he could not