Jannik Sinner is confident he will be able to deal with the rising temperatures later this week, but admits it will be a case of trial and error.
Sinner moved into the quarter-finals with a 6-3, 7-6 (0), 6-3 win over Japanese world No.151 Shintaro Mochizuki. A former junior champion who came through qualifying to reach the last 16 of a major for the first time in his career this year. Throughout the entertaining tussle, where the underdog won over the crowd, Sinner saved all five break points faced and hit 45 winners against 33 unforced errors.
“Back in the day, there were some players like this. He’s very tricky, especially on this surface,” Sinner said of his Japanese rival.
“Mentally, I was trying to understand at the beginning of the match how to play. I had chances in the second set but couldn’t use them. In the third set, I felt we both started to play better.
“I’m very happy with how I handled these situations because here (at Wimbledon) you can definitely be in big trouble at times. I’m happy with how I handled it.”
It is the fifth time in his career that Sinner has reached the last eight at SW19, which is a record for an Italian player. He has already won five Masters 1000 titles this season, with Mochizuki being his 41st Tour-level win since the start of the season.
Later this week, Sinner will find heat becoming more of a factor with the Met Office predicting temperatures could rise as high as 35 degrees on Thursday. The physicality of the world No.1 has been under scrutiny in recent weeks following his French Open loss, in which he suffered cramping during hot conditions.
“I feel I’m well-prepared. We did a good preparation,” Sinner assures.
“Whatever happened in the past is gone already. Now we see if we found a solution. If not, we keep working on the next one.
“But in any case, in the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam, the feelings are different. There is definitely more tension. At the same time, I’m very happy where I am at the moment.”
Awaiting the top seed in the next round will be Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff, who moved into his first major quarter-final after Hubert Hurkacz was forced to retire when trailing 3-6, 6-7(5), 7-6(2), 7-5, 4-2. At the age of 36, Struff is the oldest man in the Open Era to reach the first major quarter-final. Sinner has won all three of their previous meetings, with one of those being on grass in Halle two years ago.
“I think the most important thing is to stay with a good mentality and the right attitude on court,” Sinner said of reaching the later rounds of a major.
“The stages are getting bigger, more important, as we know. There is more attention to every detail. We try to prepare each match as the most important, and then we see.
“I’m trying to control whatever we can control; then the rest is trying to solve the problem.”
Sinner will play his next match on Tuesday.
