Record-Breaking Effort Lifts Sinner Into Wimbledon Second Week

Jannik Sinner
Jannik Sinner (photo: Wimbledon video)

WIMBLEDON/WASHINGTON, July 5, 2025 (by Michael Dickens)

As World No. 1 and top seed Jannik Sinner opposed Spaniard Pedro Martinez on Centre Court for a berth in second week of the Wimbledon Championships on Middle Saturday, two of his Italian teammates, Flavio Cobolli and Lorenzo Sonego, were also attempting to win their third-round matches. If successful, it would mark the first time in history that three Italian men have reached the round of 16 at Wimbledon.

Sinner garnered an Italian record of his own by reaching the fourth round at a Grand Slam for the 17th time, overtaking the great Nicola Pietrangeli, following his clinical 6-1, 6-3, 6-1 victory over the 52nd-ranked Martinez in one-hour, 55 minutes to begin play on the All England Club’s biggest show court. It’s his fourth consecutive berth in the last 16 at Wimbledon in just his fifth appearance at SW19.

The 23-year-old South Tyrolean’s success was reflected by his match statistics, in which he struck 46 winners – including 11 aces – and converted six of 14 break points while saving all four break points he faced. Sinner outpointed Martinez 93-60. He has not dropped any sets through his first three matches during this British fortnight.

“I’m very happy to be in the second week, but I think we all saw he was struggling with the shoulder,” Sinner said during his on-court interview, commenting about Martinez’s physical condition. “He couldn’t serve very well, and especially on this surface, if you can’t serve well, it’s not easy to play. But huge credit to him for coming out. From my side, I tried to stay solid from the back of the court.”

Next, Sinner will face No. 17 seed Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria, who ended the run of 165th-ranked Austrian Sebastian Ofner, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (0), in two hours and 25 minutes on No. 3 Court, in back of 34 winners – including 15 aces. He outpointed Ofner 104-84 in earning his 100th career major victory.

Among the sporting dignitaries sitting in the Royal Box to witness Sinner’s 22nd victory of the 2025 season were Hall of Famers Billie Jean King, Andy Roddick and Vijay Amritraj. It prompted a show of respect from the Italian champion.

“I feel like I haven’t won anything compared to you,” Sinner said, looking toward the Royal Box. “For us athletes, it’s very nice when we see new faces because we are not used to playing in front of such special guests, so thank you for watching.”

Later, the 22nd-seeded Cobolli edged past No. 15 seed Jakub Mensik of Czechia, 6-2, 6-4, 6-2, behind 36 winners while outpointing his opponent 100-72. It’s his first time to reach the round of 16 in just his second Wimbledon appearance and eighth Grand Slam event overall. He will face the resurgent 36-year-old Croatian Marin Cilic, who advanced with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory over No. 55 Jaume Munar of Spain in three hours and six minutes on Court 18 after hitting 49 winners and outpointing his opponent 120-116.

As for Sonego, well, he was in it for the long journey. That’s because he went five sets and more than five hours on Court 14 against No. 29 seed Brandon Nakashima of the United States as Saturday afternoon morphed into Saturday evening at the All England Club. In the longest men’s match of the first week – at five hours and four minutes – Sonego held on to earn a 6-7 (5), 7-6 (8), 7-6 (2), 3-6, 7-6 (3) victory. Sonego struck 75 winners – including 16 aces – and overcame 52 unforced errors. He’s was outpointed by Nakashima 195-192.

Next, Sonego will face No. 10 seed Ben Shelton of the United States, who defeated 105th-ranked lucky loser Marton Fucsovics of Hungary, 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-2, in two hours on No. 1 Court Saturday evening. Shelton hit nine aces and 30 winners overall. He outpointed Fucsovics 99-78.

Djokovic triumphs for 100th time at Wimbledon

This has been a season of magic numbers for Novak Djokovic – he keeps on hitting 100.

To wit, when Djokovic won a Roland-Garros tune-up in Geneva on clay in May, it was his 100th career ATP Tour title. At Roland-Garros, he also reached 100 match wins. Now, as Djokovic chases after an eighth Wimbledon title and 25th major crown overall, it’s the 19th time the Serbian icon found himself in the last 32 at the All England Club, which is a record.

Saturday evening on Centre Court, the 38-year-old Djokovic earned his 100 career win at Wimbledon, when he beat another Serbian, Miomir Kecmanovic, 6-3, 6-0, 6-4, in a compact one hour and 47 minutes. He’s now 24-8 on the season, 4-0 lifetime against Kecmanovic and Djokovic has won 14 of his last 15 matches against compatriots.

In a masterclass full of effort, Djokovic pounded out 60 winners – including 16 aces – against Kecmanovic and dropped just nine points on his first serve. He converted six of 10 break points and outpointed his opponent 96-62. Now, he’s through to the Wimbledon round of 16 for the 17th time in his career.

“I am very grateful, privileged to be in the position that I am,” Djokovic said during his on-court interview, asked about achieving his 100th win at the All England Club. “I have said it many times. Tennis made me who I am. It has given me things in life that I can experience. I try not to take anything for granted, particularly at this age. I’m still going strong, trying to compete with the young players and do some slides and some splits on the court.

Djokovic is just the third player, man or woman, to record 100 match wins at Wimbledon, after 9-time champion Martina Navratilova and 8-time champion Roger Federer.

“Wimbledon is a favorite tournament and dream tournament of not just myself but probably the majority of tennis players,” Djokovic added. “Growing up most of the kids dream of playing here and winning here and I am blessed to have done it multiple times. Any history that I make at my favorite tournament, I am blessed.”

Next, Djokovic will face 11th seed Alex de Minaur of Australia, who ended the run of 192nd-ranked qualifier August Holmgren of Denmark, 6-4 7-6 (5), 6-3, in two hours and 21 minutes on No. 2 Court. De Minaur won 85 percent of his first-serve points, hit 21 winners to just 10 unforced errors, and broke Holmgren’s serve three times in 12 tries. He outpointed his opponent 111-93.

Andreeva reaches Wimbledon second week for second time

Seventh-seeded Mirra Andreeva is the highest-remaining seed in the lower half of the women’s draw following the early exits of No. 2 seed Coco Gauff and No. 3 seed Jessica Pegula in a first-week that’s been filled full of upsets. After her 6-1, 6-3 victory over 55th-ranked American Hailey Baptiste in 78 minutes on No. 1 Court, the 18-year-old Russian is through to the round of 16 at Wimbledon for the second time in her career. It was her 35th win on the WTA Tour this season – tied for third with Pegula and behind Aryna Sabalenka (44) and Iga Swiatek (37).

By winning, Andreeva is through to the second week of a Grand Slam for the sixth time in just 10 main-draw appearances. She has yet to lose a set through her first three matches.

“I felt like I was playing great,” Andreeva said during her on-court interview. “I knew that the match is going to be tough because I felt like she was playing super free and she was going for her shots. My goal for the match was just to stay focused and also be aggressive. So I’m super happy with my level today.”

After reaching the Australian Open fourth round, the quarterfinals at Roland Garros and fourth round of the Wimbledon Championships, Andreeva is the youngest player to reach at least the fourth round at each of the first three majors of the season since Nicole Vaidisova in 2006.

Next, Andreeva will face No. 10 seed Emma Navarro of the United States, who ended the run of defending champion and this year’s 17th seed Barbora Krejcikova of Czechia, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, in two hours and 36 minutes on No. 1 Court. Navarro won 49 percent of her receiving points and broke Krejcikova’s serve five times. She outpointed her opponent 95-87.

With Krejcikova eliminated, whoever wins the Wimbledon women’s title next Saturday will be the ninth champion in the past nine editions. Serena Williams of the United States was the last repeat Wimbledon champion in 2016.

Around the All England Club

Fifty minutes into Saturday’s play, a summer rain shower interrupted matches on the outer courts for one hour and 40 minutes. It was the second time this week that rain had disrupted play at the All England Club. However, once the rain subsided for good, there were five men’s and five women’s third-round singles matches that took place across the grounds, in addition to a variety of men’s and women’s doubles and mixed doubles as well as the start of the junior Wimbledon tournament.

On the 50th anniversary of Arthur Ashe‘s 1975 Wimbledon men’s title victory over Jimmy Connors, guests in the Royal Box on Day 6 of the Championships included a pair of tennis Hall of Famers: Billie Jean King (six-time Wimbledon singles champion overall and four times in the Open Era) and Andy Roddick (three-time Wimbledon finalist and US Open titlist).

• No. 19 seed Liudmila Samsonova of Russia advanced to her second Wimbledon round of 16 with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over No. 16 seed Daria Kasatkina of Australia, a 2018 quarterfinalist at the grass-court major. Samsonova needed just 76 minutes on No. 3 Court to earn her second career win over Kasatkina. She hit 22 winners and converted five of seven break points. Samsonova, who outpointed her opponent 64-44, moves on to face No. 62 Jessica Bouzas Maneiro of Spain. Bouzas Maneiro defeated No. 42 Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine, 6-1, 2-6, 6-3, in one hour and 21 minutes, by converting four of seven break points and outpointing her opponent 76-68.

• No. 18 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia ended the run of 88th-ranked Zeynep Sonmez, the first Turkish player to reach the third round of a Grand Slam event in the Open Era, 6-3, 7-6 (1), in one hour and 24 minutes on Court 12. Alexandrova hit 22 winners, converted four of six break points and outpointed Sonmez 77-59 to improve to 7-0 against players ranked outside the Top 50. It’s the second time for Alexandrova to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon.

Next, Alexandrova will face No. 35 Belinda Bencic of Switzerland, who came from a break down in the final set and emerged with a 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7) win over No. 116 Elisabetta Cocciaretto of Italy, in two hours and 58 minutes. It was the second-longest women’s match at this year’s Wimbledon. Bencic, who is through to the round of 16 at Wimbledon for the fourth time, was outpointed 111-107 but benefitted from 45 unforced errors by Cocciaretto.

• No. 23 Clara Tauson of Denmark upset No. 11 seed and 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, 7-6 (6), 6-3, in two hours and 16 minutes on No. 2 Court. Tauson, the only Danish woman in the draw, is through to the fourth round after bowing in the first round in three previous Wimbledon appearances. She outpointed Rybakina 90-79, which included hitting 25 winners.

Next, Tauson will face No. 8 seed Iga Swiatek of Poland. The former World No. whose best Wimbledon result is reaching the quarterfinals in 2023, beat No. 54 Danielle Collins of the United States, 6-2, 6-3, in 75 minutes on Centre Court. Swiatek won 86 percent of her first-serve points, hit 15 winners to just 10 unforced errors and outpointed Collins 61-42.

Saturday’s Wimbledon results

Sunday’s Wimbledon order of play

By the numbers

Three years ago, Ben Shelton (University of Florida) and August Holmgren (University of San Diego) played each other in the NCAA singles final, won by Shelton. Now, both advanced to the third round at Wimbledon. It’s the first time that former NCAA final opponents have reached the third round of the same major since 1983.

“Quotable …”

“Wimbledon is one of my favorite Grand Slams. I have nothing to lose, and I have had very good preparation in the last weeks. I’ve been working for these moments over the past few months, because I had a couple of injuries last year. I was struggling, but I really wanted to get back in the Top 100 and play in the big matches in the Grand Slams.”

– No. 105 Marton Fucsovics of Hungary, as quoted by the ATP Tour website. He is the first lucky loser to reach the Wimbledon third round after two five-set wins.

 

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