LondonEven though Jannik Sinner is performing at Wimbledon, he doesn’t seem to require any assistance. Nevertheless, he received relief on Saturday when Pedro Martinez, his opponent, was battling a troublesome shoulder and frequently delivered first serves at mediocre speeds.
The top-seeded Sinner, who has lost 17 games overall, advanced to the fourth round of the Grand Slam tournament for the seventh time in a row, won three of these titles during that time, and never really looked threatened in a 6-1, 6-3, 6-1 triumph over No. 52 Martinez.
We could all see he was having trouble. After saying this, Sinner made a comment regarding his own performance: “The first week couldn’t have gone better.”
There has been no indication that Sinner will be unable to get past the French Open final from last month, where he fell to Carlos Alcarazin in five sets despite winning the first two and having three title points.
After 20 minutes, Sinner, who had returned from a three-month drug sentence in May, was ahead 5-0 against Martinez. Sinner scored ten points during that 29-point run, but Martinez only got one victory.
A trainer gave Martinez a massage on the back of his right shoulder during his medical timeout. Sinner’s peak first serve speed was 133 mph, while the Spaniard’s was as slow as 76 mph.
Martinez’s game gradually became better in that area, but the one ever-so-brief moment of suspense at Centre Court was in the second set, almost 75 minutes in, when Sinner served at 4-3 and up a break. Martinez was able to earn his first four break points of the match there.
John McEnroe noted on the BBC’s program that Sinner remained as composed as possible throughout the match, erasing all four of those opportunities, holding for 5-3, and then breaking to end the set.
Sinner, who has won the Australian Open twice, the U.S. Open once, and the Wimbledon semifinal in 2023, was soon on his way to a match on Monday against either Grigor Dimitrov or Sebastian Ofner, whose match was postponed due to rain in the second set.
What else took place at Wimbledon on Saturday?
Another loss from a top seed occurred when No. 11 Elena Rybakina, the 2022 champion, lost to No. 23 Clara Tauson 7-6 (6), 6-3 in the third round. 18-year-old Russian Mirra Andreeva, ranked No. 7, defeated American Hailey Baptiste 6-1, 6-3 to advance to Week 2. The next opponent for Andreeva will be Emma Navarro or Barbara Krejcikova, the reigning champion. No. 19 Liudmila Samsonova and Jessica Bouzas Maneiro advanced, securing another fourth-round encounter. Bouzas Maneiro upset 2023 champion Marketa Vondrousova in the first round last year. This year, she defeated No. 2 Coco Gauffin in the first round by defeating Dayana Yastremska 6-1, 2-6, 6-3. Flavio Cobolli, ranked number 22, defeated No. 15 Jakub Mensik 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 to clinch his first trip to a major’s round of 16.
Who will perform at the All England Club on Sunday?
First placeAs the fourth round gets underway, Aryna Sabalenka, fresh off an exciting victory over Emma Raducanu, returns to Centre Court to take on No. 24 Elise Mertens. The final scheduled match in the main arena on Sunday pits No. 14 Andrey Rublev against two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraza. The No. 5 seed, 2024 U.S. Open runner-up Taylor Fritz of the United States, will face the unseeded Jordan Thompson of Australia at No. 1 Court at 1 p.m. local time (8 a.m. ET).
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