Italian top seed Jannik Sinner brought an end to one of the most heartwarming storylines at this year’s Wimbledon, defeating German veteran Jan-Lennard Struff 7-5, 7-6(4), 6-3 on Tuesday to book his place in the semifinals.
Struff had made history in his 47th Grand Slam appearance by becoming the oldest man in the professional era to reach a first major quarter-final, accomplishing the feat at 36 years old. However, any hopes the world number 74 had of pushing further into the tournament were quickly extinguished by the defending champion.
Struff had blasted 100 aces on his way to the quarterfinals and added 12 more during Tuesday’s match, but his powerful serve was not enough to disrupt Sinner’s rhythm. The Italian broke serve to go up 6-5 in the opening set and closed it out from there.
When Struff earned a set point in the 10th game of the second set, Sinner responded with an unreturnable serve to neutralize the threat. He then cruised through the tiebreak and punched his ticket to a 10th Grand Slam semifinal when Struff sent a service return long.
Sinner, who has not added to his Grand Slam title count since winning at the All England Club a year ago, will now face either Novak Djokovic or Felix Auger-Aliassime for a chance to reach the final.
