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Ruthless Sinner powers into Wimbledon last 16 / Photo: © AFP
Ruthless Sinner powers into Wimbledon last 16
Defending champion Jannik Sinner powered into the Wimbledon fourth round on Friday with a ruthless 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 win over American Jenson Brooksby.
Sinner had never lost a Grand Slam match to a player ranked as low as world number 81 Brooksby and he delivered an imperious display on Court One to keep that streak intact.
The 24-year-old is into the last 16 for the fifth time, equalling Nicola Pietrangeli's record for most Wimbledon men's singles fourth-round appearances by an Italian.
He will face Japanese qualifier Shintaro Mochizuki for a place in the quarter-finals.
"I've never played him but whoever is in the fourth round of a Grand Slam deserves to be there," Sinner said of world number 151 Mochizuki.
"I'm trying to improve every day. A small step forward today. Trying to get better if I want to go far in this tournament.
"There are a couple of things I still need to do better, but I'm very happy with the result."
Sinner ended Carlos Alcaraz's two-year reign as Wimbledon champion with a brilliant final victory over the Spaniard last year.
The four-time Grand Slam champion had been some way from those lofty heights in his opening two matches this week.
Sinner had to fight back from two sets to one down to beat Miomir Kecmanovic in the first round and survived a pair of tie-breaks during his straight-set victory over Nuno Borges in round two.
Having opted not to play a Wimbledon warm-up event for the first time in his career, the world number one looked a little under-prepared.
Sinner hasn't reached a Grand Slam final this year and blew a two-set lead in a shock French Open second-round defeat against Juan Manuel Cerundolo in June.
The lowest-ranked player to shock Sinner at a Grand Slam is number 79 Daniel Altmaier in the second round at Roland Garros in 2023.
But Sinner ensured there was never any chance of a similar upset on Court One.
Showing his steely desire to finish off Brooksby, Sinner broke out of his robotic persona to gesticulate towards the crowd -- pointing at his ear to demand more noise from them -- after winning a key point in the closing stages.
Sinner is the youngest man to reach at least the last 16 in five or more consecutive years in the Wimbledon singles since Pete Sampras in the 1990s.
X.Roberts--SFF
