Tennis-Sinner snuffs out Struff’s Wimbledon dream to reach semi-finals

By Pritha Sarkar

LONDON, July 7 (Reuters) – Champion Jannik Sinner ended one of the feel-good stories at this year’s Wimbledon when he tamed big-serving German warrior Jan-Lennard Struff 7-5 7-6(4) 6-3 to reach the semi-finals on Tuesday.

In his 47th Grand Slam appearance, Struff had become the oldest man in the professional era to reach his first major quarter-final, at the age of 36.

Any hopes the world number 74 might have harboured of extending that run were snuffed out in brutal fashion by the Italian top seed.

Struff had served 100 thunderbolt aces to reach the quarter-finals and fired down 12 more missiles on Tuesday but all that firepower did little to throw Sinner off his stride.

HOPING FOR MAJOR SUCCESS AFTER MASTERS RUN

A break for a 6-5 lead in the first set was enough for the four-time Grand Slam champion to bag the set and when Struff held set point in the 10th game of the second, Sinner maintained his laser focus to produce an unreturnable serve.

Danger over and Sinner, who has failed to add to his Grand Slam tally since his triumph at the All England Club 12 months ago, steamed through the tiebreak before reaching his 10th major semi-final when Struff banged a service return long.

“He is a very, very tough player to play against but he deserves everything he’s done and achieved in his career,” Sinner told the crowd after extending his record over Struff to 4-0.

“In the beginning, he started better than me, I was struggling a little bit. I tried to stay there mentally.

“The second set could have ended in a different way, tiebreaks are always 50-50. He’s a very tough player to play against. I’m happy to be back in the semi-finals here,” he added ahead of Friday’s blockbuster against seven-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic.

Sinner has been an unstoppable force at the Masters 1000 events this year, winning all five contested. Unfortunately the man from the Dolomites has been unable to carry that form into the majors, falling before the final at both the Australian and French Opens.

HOT CONDITIONS

The expected one-horse race at Roland Garros, in the absence of his injured rival and 2025 champion Carlos Alcaraz, turned into a free-for-all after the world number one shockingly succumbed in suffocating heat in the second round.

With the mercury rising to 31 degrees Celsius (88 degrees Fahrenheit) in London on Tuesday, there were concerns that the roasting conditions, rather than Struff, could once again be the undoing of Sinner.

“It’s not as hot as Paris and not as hot as Australia but he must be thinking about the heat in his head,” American great John McEnroe said as Sinner walked on to Court One at 1 p.m., looking up at the glaring sun.

But it was not long before Sinner was the one putting the heat on Struff.

Once Sinner got the hang of handling the 139 mph deliveries flying off Struff’s racket, the German tried, tried and tried again but there was nothing left in his arsenal to blow a hole in the Italian’s game plan.

After two hours and 34 minutes, Struff’s Wimbledon dreams had been trampled into the dusty Court One turf.

He received a standing ovation from the crowd as he walked off, prompting McEnroe to say: “It was a career milestone for Jan-Lennard Struff. God bless him to get there and battle the way he did. I’m glad he got a huge round of applause.”

Struff, more used to fading into the background within the opening couple of days at the slams after enduring 27 first-round losses, was delighted to finally make the last-eight club.

“At 36, it’s a sign you should never give up. All the fight and everything, it’s worth it. This is a highlight of my career for sure.”

(Reporting by Pritha Sarkar; Editing by Alison Williams and Clare Fallon)