Sinner keeps his cool and stays red hot at Wimbledon
Into the Wimbledon semifinals after beating Jan-Lennard Struff, Jannik Sinner sensed his game climbing “a small step” each day, credited his clutch serving and brushed off the Centre Court heat as comfortable.
Jannik Sinner, Wimbledon 2026 | © Ch. Caillaud / PsNewz
Jannik Sinner believes his tennis is sharpening at just the right time. Through to the Wimbledon semifinals after a straight-sets win over Jan-Lennard Struff, the world No. 1 called the performance “again a small step better” in a fortnight during which he has steadily grown into the tournament, and said he feels a little cleaner with each passing day.
The German posed a test unlike any he had faced this week. “It was a very different opponent to the ones I’ve had until now – a big server, and grass is always tough,” Sinner said after the match. “It was a very solid performance on my side, so I’m very happy.”
The heat that built over Court No.1 never troubled him. “It felt okay – warm, but nothing crazy,” he said. “In Australia it’s tougher, because with hard court the heat comes from underneath. It was quite dry today, which is a big difference. When it’s humid and warm, it’s different again.” He likened the conditions to Roland-Garros and said he “felt quite comfortable” throughout.
I felt like I was serving quite intelligently today
Central to that, he said, was his serving in the decisive moments. “Serving in important moments, I felt like I was serving quite intelligently today. Even though I was a break up in the second set, I had a drop of concentration again, but I tried to stay there mentally in every service game,” he said.
Sinner’s afternoon was built on a first serve that, when it found the court, was close to untouchable. He landed only 65 percent of them (70 of 108) – the margin he himself flagged as needing work – but won a punishing 84 percent of the points behind it (59 of 70), firing 16 aces against just two double faults.
On the rare occasions Struff got a look at the second ball the picture evened out, Sinner taking only half of those points (19 of 38).
He took particular satisfaction from steadying himself when the second set threatened to slip. “If you lose the second set, everything can happen again, especially with a big server – you have less control,” he said. “So that’s something I can be proud of.” “But there’s certainly a bit of room for improvement.” He added that he is “serving a bit better than last year,” a factor he sees as central to his deep run on grass.
