World number one Yannick Sinner's hopes of a first Wimbledon title were dashed when he lost to Daniil Medvedev in the quarter-finals on Tuesday.
Medvedev defeated an underperforming player to knock out the No. 1 seed and advance to the semifinals for the second consecutive time in the tournament.
The fifth seed, who achieved her best result at Wimbledon last year, said: “I knew it was going to be a tough match if I wanted to beat Jannik. At one point I thought he wasn't feeling well, but I knew I could win. It was a good score, a good match and I'm really happy.”
Sinner looked unwell early in the third set, calling a doctor and then holding his head in his hands, and had to leave the court for a medical timeout.
Retirement was a possibility, but Sinner improved after the restart and might have won the match if he had won one of the two set points in the third round.
He took the deciding set but Medvedev eventually prevailed 6-7 (9-7) 6-4 7-6 (7-4) 2-6 6-3 in four hours to set up a match against either defending champion Carlos Alcaraz or American Tommy Paul.
Medvedev had lost five straight matches to Sinner and blew a two-set lead as he looked to avenge his bitter defeat to the Italian in the Australian Open final this year.
The roof of Centre Court provided a more defined view of the ball as the two players battled it out in an opening set filled with long rallies, pulling each other from corner to corner.
Neither player threatened a break and the tension showed in the tiebreak. Both players double-faulted, Sinner was at 5-5, but Medvedev missed two routine forehands and then double-faulted again on the Italian's second chance.
Sinner took a medical timeout after losing to Medvedev.
The first sign that Sinner was in trouble came in the third game of the second set, when Medvedev took advantage of the No. 1 seed's listless play to get his first break.
Sinner withstood a further break point at 2-4, but it became clear the 22-year-old was in trouble when he lost serve again at 1-1 in the third set.
When he was taken off the court on doctor's orders, it appeared he would not be able to continue, but he carefully returned minutes later and resumed play.
The Italian still didn't look very fit, walking very slowly between points and trying to shorten them with a mix of groundstrokes and drop shots that made the difference between winning and losing.
It was enough to keep him in contact until Medvedev served for the third set, but the confidence the fifth seed had shown suddenly disappeared and Sinner suddenly started to fight back.
The Italian, who had been wearing an ice towel around his neck between matches, had another chance to take the set, but Medvedev parried an ace and Sinner's backhand hit the net.
Another ace gave Medvedev a tiebreaker to take him one step closer to the semifinals, but Sinner fought back in a quick fourth set to send the match into the final.
Sinner now looked the favorite, but the momentum shifted again in the fourth game when Sinner saved two break points before sinking a forehand.
And although Medvedev had his best win of the season at Wimbledon, reaching his ninth Grand Slam semifinal, he was listless.
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