Sinner: 'I tried to fight with what I had today'

Jannik Sinner’s Wimbledon journey ended at the quarter-final stage on Wednesday. During the Italian’s clash with Daniil Medvedev, he received a medical timeout in the third set due to illness. Sinner had his pulse taken by a doctor and then left the court before he returned to lose in five sets.

“Already this morning I didn’t feel great. I had some problems,” Sinner said in his post-match press conference. “Then with the fatigue, it was tough. But take nothing away from Daniil. I think he played very smart. He played good tennis. That’s it. I went off the court. I didn’t want to go off. The physio told me it was better to take some time because he watched me and I didn’t seem in shape to play. I was struggling physically. It was not an easy moment. I tried to fight with what I had today.

“I was not feeling great. I didn’t vomit. But I took some time because I was dizzy quite a lot. Off court, I had the toughest time. When I went back, I tried my best.”

Sinner was aiming for a second consecutive Wimbledon semi-final appearance. The 14-time tour-level titlist had won his past five Lexus ATPHead2Head meetings with fifth seed Medvedev, who now holds a 7-5 lead.

The No. 1 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, who won in Halle last month, is frustrated he was unable to play at his best.

“I felt like I was playing some good tennis,” said Sinner, who dropped just one set en route to the fourth round. “I had tough opponents to reach this point. But it also gives you confidence when you beat certain players. It’s tough because I felt like I was feeling the ball in a very positive way. Also today I tried. Just the ending was not what I wanted.

“It is a tough one to swallow. But the season is going very positive, a lot of wins, not so many losses. The losses are very tight matches. The level is there. That’s the most important. Just watching out for the positives.”

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Sinner said that he never considered retiring during the five-set defeat despite struggling. The 22-year-old won the fourth set after receiving treatment in the third but was unable to match Medvedev’s intensity in the decider.

“I was surprised that I pushed the match longer. I retired a lot two years ago. I don’t want to retire if it’s only a little bit of illness or sick,” Sinner said. “I was still in shape to play somehow. In the fifth set I felt a little bit better again. The energy level was a bit up. Today the energy level was not consistent. It was up and down. It’s also not easy to handle the situations on the court.

“It happens. I was never thinking about retiring. For sure the crowd helped me a lot trying to push me. You don’t want to retire in a quarter-final of a Grand Slam.”

Sinner leaves Wimbledon holding a 42-4 record on the season, having won titles at the Australian Open and in Rotterdam, Miami and Halle. Sinner is first in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin but Carlos Alcaraz can close to 250 points if he wins his fourth major.

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