WIMBLEDON/WASHINGTON, July 7, 2026 (by Michael Dickens)
Defending champion and World No. 1 Jannik Sinner came into his Wimbledon Championships quarterfinal Tuesday afternoon on No. 1 Court as the obvious favorite against 36-year-old Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany, who had never reached the last eight of a major in his career until this week and became the oldest first-time Grand Slam singles quarterfinalist in the Open Era.
While 24-year-old Sinner from Italy throughout this Wimbledon fortnight has been made to work for his victories, the 74th-ranked Struff, who few expected to reach the quarterfinals, knew he had nothing to lose. The German No. 4 had gone further than he ever has, in his 47th Grand Slam appearance, and had everything to gain against the top seed.
As it happened, Sinner’s experience and grace under pressure rewarded him. Time and again, he escaped danger. In the end, Sinner advanced to the Wimbledon semifinals for the third time and Struff remained winless against World No. 1 competition (0-5 vs. Novak Djokovic, 0-2 vs. Sinner).
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Sinner handed Struff his seventh-straight loss to a World No. 1 with his 7-5, 7-6 (4), 6-3 victory in two hours and 34 minutes to move to within two victories of successfully defending his Wimbledon crown. He’s through to his 10th Grand Slam semifinal. On Friday, Sinner will face either No. 3 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada or No. 7 seed and seven-time Wimbledon champion Djokovic from Serbia, who played later Tuesday.
Afterward his victory, Sinner gave props to Struff, who walked off court to great applause.
“First, very, very tough player to play against,” Sinner said during his on-court interview with the BBC. “He deserves everything he’s done and has achieved in his career. He’s a great, great person off the court, an amazing person.
“In the beginning, I felt like he started better than me. I was struggling a little bit. I tried to get into the match. I started to serve a little better. I was a break up in the second set, but couldn’t use it. I tried to stay in it mentally. Of course, I’m very happy to be back in the semifinals.”
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By the end of the match, Sinner looked more relaxed but it wasn’t always easy.
“The second set could have ended in a different way,” Sinner said. “Tie-breaks are always 50-50. If you are one set all or two sets up, it’s a big [difference]. So, in the third set, I was, for sure, a little bit more relaxed, for sure.
“His percentage of first serves dropped a little bit, which helped me to feel slightly more comfortable. I’m very happy to finish in three sets, but he’s a very tough player to play against. So, I’m pleased.”
Since seeing his 30-match winning streak snapped in the second round at Roland-Garros, Sinner has recovered nicely at Wimbledon. He’s won five-straight matches – including four straight-set wins after being pushed to five sets in the first round by No. 50 Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia.
“We prepared ourselves in the best possible way,” said Sinner, commenting on the warm London temperatures that permeated the All England Club, reaching 88 degrees Fahrenheit (31.1 degrees Celsius). “It was a huge test today. I felt really comfortable in the physical side today. It’s a good step forward.”
Gauff beats Pegula in All-American clash of grass-court styles
For the fifth consecutive year, there’s been at least one American reaching the Wimbledon women’s singles quarterfinals. This year, there’s two – World No. 4 Jessica Pegula and World No. 7 Coco Gauff. It guarantees an American will appear in the Wimbledon semifinals on Thursday for the second-straight year.
When Pegula faced Gauff on Centre Court Tuesday afternoon in a match-up of friends and foes – Pegula’s first time on the famed grass court – it marked the fourth all-American women’s singles meeting at Wimbledon in the last 20 years in quarterfinals and onwards after Serena Williams–Venus Williams (finals in 2008 and 2009) and Serena Williams–Alison Riske (quarterfinals in 2019). Meanwhile, Gauff made her Centre Court debut seven years ago as a 15-year-old en route to reaching the fourth round.
On Tuesday afternoon, Centre Court was a fitting stage for the match between the two highest-ranked players who remained in the women’s draw – and by the conclusion of their one-hour, 48-minute clash, it was Gauff who won, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, to advance to the semifinal round for the first time at Wimbledon in seven attempts. Now, she is four winning sets away from becoming a Wimbledon champion for the first time.
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In Thursday’s semifinals, Gauff will play No. 10 seed Karolina Muchova of Czechia, who eased past No. 14 seed Naomi Osaka of Japan, 7-6 (4), 6-4, in one hour and 40 minutes on No. 1 Court.
The 22-year-old Gauff’s three-set victory – something she’s become accustomed to during this year’s London fortnight – makes the two-time Grand Slam champion the seventh active player – joining Venus Williams, Serena Williams, Karolina Pliskova, Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek – to reach the semifinals or better at all four major tournaments in her career.
Against Pegula, Gauff struck 25 winners – including seven aces – and won 67 percent (39 of 58) of her first-serve points. She converted five of five break points and outpointed Pegula 87-77. Pegula countered with 15 winners but made 24 unforced errors. The American No. 1 broke Gauff’s serve three times in seven tries.
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Relishing the moment during her on-court interview with the BBC, Gauff called her win over Pegula and reaching her first Wimbledon semifinal “honestly, pretty insane.
“I hadn’t won a match on grass in two years before this tournament. I’m definitely just really happy with how I played today. Jess is an incredible opponent and person. Playing against her is never easy but I am just happy to get through this one today.
“I think I just needed to trust that I could be in there in the rallies and to play the tennis I wanted to play. … When you have that faith in yourself as a competitor when the match goes the distance, you aren’t panicking when you lose a set.”
Gauff said she thought a lot of people had her going out in the first or second round this tournament. Instead, she has put together impressive victories over Tamara Korpatsch of Germany, Solana Sierra of Argentina, fellow American Claire Liu, No. 11 seed Belinda Bencic of Switzerland and Pegula.
“After seven years of playing this tournament, it’s finally the first time I can walk off Centre Court and I didn’t feel nervous. … I’m really enjoying the process of being here. Playing at Wimbledon is so special,” she said.
During her post-match news conference, Pegula labeled her loss as a “tough one.” She aid of Gauff: “She played really well. I thought she ended up serving really well the last couple sets. I still had a lot of break points, a couple unlucky on some ones I felt like in the second set that definitely could have gone either way.
“I fought back to break, then got broken right back. That was a little frustrating. But, I mean, I thought she played well. I mean, it was an intense match. Yeah, just disappointed. But I thought it was a good match.”
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Meanwhile, Muchova reached her first Wimbledon semifinal in her seventh tournament appearance. She outpointed Osaka 84-69, which included 24 winners, and converted three of seven break points. It was her second victory over Osaka during the current grass court season. Earlier, Muchova defeated the Japanese star in the Bad Homburg title match last month.
“Oh my gosh, I was nervous,” Muchova said during her on-court interview. “I was very nervous. As you said, she’s unbelievable. We’ve played so many times. We played a week ago in a tournament against each other, so I think we know each other pretty well at this point. And I know that you can’t lose that focus. You have to still keep going and play every point, because if you give her a chance, she takes it.
“All the best to her. She is a great tennis player and I’m glad I won today.”
Muchova, who is 1-6 lifetime against Gauff, is attempting to become the sixth different Czech woman to win a Wimbledon singles title in the Open Era.
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Around the All England Club
• Men’s singles No. 2 seed Alexander Zverev of Germany completed his fourth-round match against No. 13 seed Jiri Lehecka of Czechia that was suspended by curfew in the third set Tuesday night. The World No. 3 Zverev pulled through with a 6-4, 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (6) victory to set up a quarterfinal match with No. 6 seed Taylor Fritz of the United States, whom he has lost to seven straight times.
Zverev, who is competing in his 10th Wimbledon Championships, had never gone beyond the round of 16 until this year. Now, he’s through to the semifinals for the first time.
“Who would have thought it would only have taken me 12 years to get there?” Zverev said during his on-court interview, smiling at the thought. “I’m incredibly happy, incredibly relieved to have achieved that, but of course I want to play a few more matches here.
“It was a fantastic match that lasted two days and of course it is never easy to come back the following day. I thought he played amazing today, so credit to him for keeping the fight up and making it very difficult today.”
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• Women’s doubles No. 1 seeds Katerina Siniakova of Czechia and Taylor Townsend of the United States advanced to the quarterfinal round with a 6-3, 6-3 win over No. 16 seeds Asia Muhammad of the United States and Fanny Stollar of Hungary in 66 minutes on No. 2 Court. Next, the 2024 Wimbledon champions will face No. 10 seeds Hanyu Guo of China and Kristina Mladenovic of France.
• In the quarterfinal round of men’s doubles, No. 1 seeds Harri Heliovaara of Finland and Henry Patten of Great Britain advanced to the semifinals with a 2-6, 7-64, 7-6 (10-6) comeback win over No. 8 seeds Guido Andreozzi of Argentina and Manuel Guinard of France. Next, Heliovaara and Patten will face alternates Thanasi Kokkinakis of Australia and Aleksandar Kovacevic of the United States.
Wednesday’s Wimbledon order of play
By the numbers
• Arthur Fery is just the fifth men’s wild card in the Open Era to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals.
• At age 22, Coco Gauff is the youngest women to reach all four Grand Slam semifinals since Maria Sharapova in 2007.
“Quotable …”
“It’s incredible to be in that position where one of the greatest of all times is watching you, let alone, yeah, watching me play a five-set match against Dimitrov on Centre Court Wimbledon. …
“What I experienced today personally, I’m really going to cherish it for the rest of my life. Who knows, maybe I will never, ever get to experience that ever again. It’s the first time I’m playing on this stage. Who knows, that might be the first and last time. Hopefully not.
“So, yeah, I’m just trying to really soak it all in and keep the memories.”
– Wild card Arthur Fery of Great Britain, during his post-match news conference coming back from 2-1 and a break down to defeat Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria in five sets to advance to his first Grand Slam quarterfinal. He will face No. 9 seed Flavio Cobolli of Italy on Centre Court Wednesday.
