Wimbledon 2026: Jannik Sinner beats Jan-Lennard Struff to reach third straight semi-final

LONDON: It is Jannik Sinner versus the heat at Wimbledon. That is not to diminish the challenge posed by his big-serving quarter-final opponent, the 36-year-old German Jan-Lennard Struff, or the others he has beaten en route to the semi-finals in south-west London.

But after the events of the past month, when he wilted in the Paris heat when within touching distance of victory in his second-round match, the weather has become a storyline of its own, particularly when temperatures climb to 30 degrees.Sinner may not have produced his most dazzling tennis against Struff's dangerous game, but he was still a class apart, prevailing 7-5, 7-6 (4), 6-3 on No. 1 Court to extend his domination of the German to 4-0. The victory sent the Italian into his third Wimbledon semi-final, where he will face seven-time champion Novak Djokovic or third seed Félix Auger-Aliassime.“He’s a very tough player to play against. I felt like he started better than me, I was struggling a bit. Then I started to serve a bit better. I was a break up in the second set, but I couldn’t use it, still I tried to stay there mentally,” Sinner said after overcoming Struff, whose first serve averaged 213 km/h, 13 km/h quicker than the Italian's.“We worked a lot after Paris, trying to understand what went wrong there. We prepared ourselves in the best possible way.

It was a huge test today, I felt really comfortable on the physical side,” the 24-year-old said.Sinner has never publicly explained exactly what happened to him at Roland Garros, but not long after he underwent a battery of tests in Milan before arriving in London. He told the Italian media at Wimbledon that he now knows what caused the problem in Paris and is doing everything he can to ensure it does not happen again. At the same time, he acknowledged there is always the possibility of a recurrence, which is why he has adjusted parts of his preparation, including practising in ice vests and paying greater attention to hydration.“It was warm, but nothing crazy,” he said of the London heat. “In Australia, I feel like it's tougher. It was quite dry today, which is a big difference. When it's humid and warm, it's different again. But I felt quite comfortable today. It was warm, yes. It was similar to Paris maybe.”Now within two wins of defending his Wimbledon title, Sinner believes his game is building nicely.“I felt like today was, again, a small step better because it was a very different opponent I faced until now,” he said.

“A big server here on grass is always tough.”In the women's singles quarter-finals, seventh seed Coco Gauff defeated her friend and former doubles partner Jessica Pegula 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals for the first time. In the last-four the 21-year-old American plays the Czech tenth seed Karolina Muchova, who knocked out Naomi Osaka 7-6 (4), 6-4 in the quarterfinals.