Jannik Sinner upends fifth-seeded Carlos Alcaraz at Wimbledon

7/3/2022 9:12:52 PM EST

Jannik Sinner punched his ticket to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon for the first time with a 6-1, 6-4, 6-7 (8), 6-3 win over fifth-seeded Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday.

Sinner, a 20-year-old Italian, finally converted his sixth match point to dismiss the 19-year-old Spaniard in three hours, 35 minutes.

"It's tough when you have match point, and you still have to play (on)," Sinner said. "I tried my best, it is just part of the game, part of tennis, and obviously I am very happy how I reacted, because in the first (game) I was struggling. I am very happy to be in the next round and hopefully I can play some good tennis."

Sinner's opponent in the quarterfinals will be defending champion and top-seeded Novak Djokovic of Serbia, who needed four sets and more than 2 1/2 hours to put away Dutch wild card Tim van Rijthoven 6-2, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 later Sunday afternoon.

After van Rijthoven broke Djokovic to take a 4-3 lead in the second set, he won his next two service games to tie the match, only to see Djokovic lose only three games in the final two sets combined.

"I knew coming into the match that it was always going to be a tough, challenging matchup against Tim, who I've never faced before. I watched him play. He's got a really good game for grass, which he proved today. (It) was a very good fight, especially in the first two sets," said Djokovic, currently ranked third in the world.

"But overall, I think I've played very well, very solid from back of the court. I got into his service rhythm, started reading his serve better in the third and fourth sets."

van Rijthoven slammed 20 aces to Djokovic's seven, but the champ was dominant on second-serve points won (69 percent to 34 percent). Djokovic also had only 19 unforced errors, compared with 53 for the Dutchman.

Also on Sunday, Belgium's David Goffin was pushed to the limit before advancing to his second Wimbledon quarterfinal.

Goffin recorded a 7-6 (3), 5-7, 5-7, 6-4, 7-5 victory over 23rd-seeded Frances Tiafoe in four hours, 36 minutes.

"It was an amazing battle. I had to stay mentally in the match the whole time," the 31-year-old Goffin said. "Just after the match point, I was mentally dead, because I had to stay fresh all the time to keep my serve, to fight to come back after losing the third set. It was a tough one.

"It was an amazing atmosphere on this court, another epic match against Frances, so I'm very happy to be in the quarterfinals again."

Tiafoe was unable to convert a pair of break points at 5-5 in the fifth set before Goffin made good on his first match point.

Goffin advanced to set up a clash against ninth-seeded Cameron Norrie, who moved on to the quarterfinals of a grand slam for the first time with a 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 win over 30th-seeded Tommy Paul.

"To make the quarters for the first time, in front of my family and friends here from college is so special," the 26-year-old Brit said. "In a huge match, to play the way I did, was really good. To execute everything. I really enjoyed it. It is pretty crazy, I have a lot of feelings.

--Field Level Media

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