Wimbledon: Jannik Sinner battles illness in loss to Daniil Medvedev as Lulu Sun’s fairytale run ends

Seemingly dizzy on the court at points, Jannik Sinner refused to retire against Daniil Medvedev but was unable to pull off a victory against the odds.

Jannik Sinner’s Wimbledon campaign is over. Picture: Henry Nicholls/AFP

World number one Jannik Sinner insisted he “didn’t think about retiring” even though he was laid low by illness during his Wimbledon quarter-final exit at the hands of Daniil Medvedev.

Sinner needed a lengthy medical timeout after feeling dizzy and appearing to almost lose his balance early in the third set of his defeat to the Russian.

The Italian then stunned the Centre Court crowd by fighting back to take the fourth set before eventually going down to a 6-7 (7/9), 6-4, 7-6 (7/4), 2-6, 6-3 defeat.

“I was surprised that I pushed the match longer,” said Sinner. “I don’t want to retire if it’s only a little bit of illness. I was still in shape to play.

“Today the energy level was not consistent but I was never thinking about retiring. You don’t want to retire in a quarter-final of a Grand Slam.”

Medvedev avenged his Australian Open final loss to Sinner in January and goes on to face defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals.

Jannik Sinner battled illness against Russia's Daniil Medvedev. Picture: Henry Nicholls/AFP

Alcaraz described his Wimbledon semi-final opponent as “a wall” on Tuesday as the two players talked up each others’ strengths ahead of their blockbuster clash.

Friday’s semi-final will be a repeat show of last year, where Alcaraz beat Russia’s Medvedev in straight sets on the way to his first Wimbledon crown.

The Spanish world number three came through 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 against America’s Tommy Paul in the quarter-finals on Tuesday while Medvedev outlasted top seed Jannik Sinner 6-7 (7/9), 6-4, 7-6 (7/4), 2-6, 6-3.

Alcaraz, who leads Medvedev 4-2 in head-to-heads, said it would be tough to face the former US Open winner, picking out his ability to get the ball back in play.

Daniil Medvedev will face Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals. Picture: Henry Nicholls/AFP

“The most difficult thing about facing Daniil, or the most special thing about him, is he can reach every ball,” he said.

“Well, he is like a wall. Every ball bounces back. I feel like I can hit an unbelievable shot, the ball is going to bounce back.” Medvedev, for his part, said three-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz, 21, was a danger anywhere on the court.

Alcaraz said he was delighted that opponents feared him in such a way because it meant they had to “focus on every shot”.

“You know whatever shot you hit, he can hit a winner from there,” said Medvedev. “So you try to make his life difficult. You try to hit the shot as good as you can.

“Maybe he goes for it and he cannot make it. But that’s pretty special because there are not many players like this.” The 28-year-old added: “Carlos can do whatever from any position and that’s not easy to play against.”

Carlos Alcaraz knows he’ll have to be at his best against Daniil Medvedev. Picture: Ben Stansall/AFP

Kiwi’s fairytale run over

Donna Vekic said the lesson was to “never give up” after overcoming dark times to reach her first Grand Slam semi-final at Wimbledon on Tuesday.

The Croatian won 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 to end the fairytale run of New Zealand qualifier Lulu Sun and will face Italian seventh seed Jasmine Paolini or US 19th seed Emma Navarro for a place in Saturday’s final.

Vekic, 28, had knee surgery at the start of 2021, and suffered further setbacks into the follow season, which she described as “very tough”.

Even this year, before the French Open, she was tempted to take a break from the tour.

“I didn’t have any energy, any motivation to keep practising, keep pushing because I felt like the last couple of months I’ve given everything for tennis, and I wasn’t getting the results that I kind of expected,” she said.

“It was a very, very tough moment, but they were all there for me. That loss in Paris (third round to Olga Danilovic) was so, so painful. But it motivated me again to keep working, to keep pushing.

“It’s crazy how in tennis things can turn so fast.” Vekic was asked at her post-match press conference how she would describe her recent story.

“I guess to never give up,” she said. “It’s not easy at times. Yeah, I had to really dig deep inside and push myself.”

New Zealand's Lulu Sun beat the odds to reach the quarter-finals. Picture: Andrej Isakovic/ AFP

The Croatian was on the back foot in her quarter-final on Tuesday after 123rd-ranked Sun took the first set but she levelled after brushing off a horror game in which she doubled-faulted five times.

From then on it was one-way traffic as Vekic made it 16 points in a row, racing into a 5-0 lead and wrapping up the match in a little over two hours.

Sun, who came through qualifying to reach the main draw at the All England Club, was aiming to become just the second woman from New Zealand to reach a Grand Slam semi-final.

The 23-year-old, who will now shoot up the rankings, said her Wimbledon run had been an unforgettable experience.

“Even on the first day against Zheng Qinwen, I thought that court was huge and the people were loud. So I was like, ‘Oh, my God, this is such an amazing experience to play on such a big court on your first day’.

“But then I played on Centre. It was against Emma (Raducanu). I don’t think I could forget that. Definitely not. So I’ve had really great matches here at Wimbledon.

“I think just energy from New Zealand fans and other fans, as well, is such a surreal moment for me that I definitely won’t forget.”