Wimbledon: Improved Jannik Sinner keeps title defence on track, reaches fourth round
London, July 3 (IANS) Defending champion Jannik Sinner seemed to have got his mojo back as he stormed into the fourth round at Wimbledon for the fifth consecutive year in a row on Friday, steamrolling past Jenson Brooksby with his strongest performance at the All-England Club in London.
Sinner looked back to his best after struggling in his opening match and then doing just enough to progress in the next round. But the third-round clash was a different story altogether as he sailed to a 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 win over the American Brooksby, who put up a brief third-set fightback.
While Sinner executed some of his best, clinical tennis – hitting 29 winners – there were moments of magic from the talented Brooksby, who is ranked No.81 in the world.
Just when Sinner looked to be surging to victory, Brooksby stopped him in his tracks by putting up a strong performance when the Italian was serving out the match, and the American player won an extended baseline rally to break back.
Despite Brooksby’s gutsy determination, even saving a match point, Sinner put out his spark. The world No.1 held a finger to his ear after swiping a forehand winner cross-court to set up his second match point, which he duly took.
He will face Shintaro Mochizuki in the fourth round on Sunday.
Earlier, defending champion Sinner produced a much-improved display to move into the third round, defeating Portugal’s Nuno Borges 7-6(4), 7-6(2), 6-4 on Centre Court, which set up Friday’s clash with Brooksby.
After being pushed to five sets by Miomir Kecmanovic in his opening match, the World No. 1 showed a much stronger performance on Wednesday. He raised his game in the key moments, breaking back when Borges served for the second set at 5-4. He finished the match in two hours and 32 minutes.
This win was important beyond Wimbledon. It marked Sinner’s 95th Grand Slam main-draw win, moving him past Nicola Pietrangeli for the most Grand Slam match wins by an Italian player.
–IANS
bsk/