ATP Tour

Sinner masters Mochizuki for fifth consecutive QF appearance at Wimbledon

After an inauspicious start, Jannik Sinner’s 2026 Wimbledon title bid is building nicely.

The No. 1 player in the PIF ATP Rankings on Sunday eased past Japanese qualifier Shintaro Mochizuki 6-3, 7-6(0), 6-3 to book his quarter-final spot at the grass-court major. Sinner was pushed to five sets by Miomir Kecmanovic in his opening round at SW19 but has subsequently reeled off three straight-sets victories, with his latest against Mochizuki a relatively peril-free outing for the Italian.

“The first time we played against [each other], so I didn’t know exactly what to expect,” Sinner said in his on-court interview. “I tried to handle the situation slightly better than him, which I’ve done. But he’s an incredible player. Coming from qualies and playing such a high level for such a long time. It’s amazing and I wish him only the best. He should be proud of himself and of course his whole team.”

Facing the 23-year-old Mochizuki for the first time, the four-time major titlist Sinner fended off a break point to hold serve in the second game of the match and subsequently notched two breaks of his own en route to the opening set. After the Centre Court roof was closed at 4-4 in the second set, the Italian produced a dominant tie-break showing to move further ahead, while another early break in the third set him on his way to a two-hour, 25-minute triumph.

Sinner fired 44 winners and saved all five break points he faced to expertly deal with the threat of Mochizuki’s crafty grass-court game. After his early struggle against Kecmanovic, the Italian appears to now be well settled into his title defence, and he will head into a quarter-final clash with Jan-Lennard Struff full of confidence.

“Very tricky, especially on this surface,” Sinner said when asked about the 5-foot-9 Mochizuki’s game. “His game suits it very well because he is very low. But all things considered, I tried to stay a bit more aggressive. I had some chances in the second set, couldn’t use them, but still I’m very happy about today’s performance. I try to step up every day and be a little bit better, so very happy about today.”

The 2025 champion Sinner is 24-4 overall at Wimbledon, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index. He has now reached at least the quarter-finals in five consecutive editions of the grass major: Sinner is just the 11th man in the Open Era to achieve that feat, and the second active man after seven-time titlist Novak Djokovic.

Sinner will face a new record-breaker for a semi-final berth at The All England Club: The 36-year-old Struff earlier became the oldest man in the Open Era to reach his first Grand Slam quarter-final, advancing to the last eight when Hubert Hurkacz retired with Struff leading the pair’s fourth-round encounter 3-6, 6-7(5), 7-6(2), 7-5, 4-2.

“A very aggressive player. A big, big server, so let’s see,” Sinner said on Struff. “But now most important is to rest and think about that tomorrow. I have big respect for him. We faced each other a couple of times. The last time was on grass in Halle and it was a very tight match. So let’s see.”