Daniil Medvedev ended his losing streak against Jannik Sinner in a five-set thriller to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals for a second consecutive year.
Italy‘s Sinner, the world number one, had won his last five encounters against Medvedev – including January’s Australian Open final.
But Russian fifth seed Medvedev avenged that Melbourne result with a 6-7 (7-9) 6-4 7-6 (7-4) 2-6 6-3 win after exactly four hours on Centre Court.
“I knew if I wanted to beat Jannik then I knew it was going to be a tough match,” said Medvedev, who is targeting a first appearance in the SW19 final.
“I’m really happy to win, really happy with my game and looking forward.”
The 28-year-old will face defending champion Carlos Alcaraz or Queen’s Club winner Tommy Paul in the semi-finals.
In their Australian Open title match, Sinner made an incredible comeback from two sets down to claim his maiden Grand Slam trophy.
On Tuesday, the 22-year-old took an early lead when Medvedev cracked first in a tie-break – double-faulting on Sinner’s second set point.
However, the Italian started to appear unwell and struggled to maintain his intensity levels as Medvedev patiently rode out the second set after breaking early.
Still out of sorts and after dropping serve early once again, Sinner called for a medical timeout, receiving attention before going off the court for almost 10 minutes.
He returned with renewed energy and the support of the crowd, slowly working his way back into the quarter-final contest.
Sinner could not capitalise on two set points, though, as Medvedev held firm and came out on top in a tie-break to nudge ahead in the match.
Former teenage prodigy Sinner raced through the fourth set to take the match into a decider – much to the delight of the Centre Court crowd.
But it was Medvedev who finished the stronger, breaking for a 3-1 lead before sealing victory with a backhand winner on his first match point.
