Jannik Sinner sweeps aside Daniel Elahi Galan in straight sets to book quarter-final spot at Wimbledon… with young Italian out to prove he deserves a place on infamous SW19 painting
It is not easy to go under the radar when you walk on to court carrying a Gucci bag and hit the living daylights out of the ball, but Jannik Sinner appears to be managing it.
The Italian No 8 seed moved quietly yet ominously into the second week of Wimbledon with a 7-6, 6-4, 6-3 win over Colombian Daniel Elahi Galan.
There has been a lot of hype around Carlos Alcaraz this fortnight, but precious little about the other young man in the foreground of that infamous and Murray-less Wimbledon painting.
The 21-year-old Sinner is waiting for that one Grand Slam fortnight to catapult him into the consciousness of the wider public, but it is not for nothing that Wimbledon featured him alongside Alcaraz as the faces of their ‘Always Like Never Before’ campaign.
That gobbledegook phrase refers to the search – by Wimbledon and the sport as a whole – for new rivalries in tennis. Federer v Nadal is over and Djokovic v Nadal is waning. Is it time for Alcaraz v Sinner?
Jannik Sinner beat Daniel Elahi Galan in straight sets to advance to Wimbledon’s quarter-finals
The Italian world No 8 was impressive and could be the dark horse in this year’s tournament
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The pair are close away from the court and close on it too – their head-to-head stands at three wins apiece. The friendship seems to extend to the families; Alcaraz’s father Carlos Snr and younger brother Jaime – a promising player himself – watched from the stands yesterday as Sinner put in a workmanlike display.
Galan was an unexpected name in Wimbledon’s fourth round; it was the first time since 2021 that he had won more than two matches at a Tour-level event.
But he proved a tough nut to crack for Sinner, who trailed 4-2 in the second set having squandered 14 break points before taking three in quick succession to seize control.
Sinner is a supreme ball striker and his fearsome forehand flies off the strings with a gunshot crack.
He looks a little gangly but generates enormous power with his groundstrokes, whipping the racket around his head on the follow-through like a golfer’s drive.
Sinner (right) was too strong for Galan (left) who did exceptional well to reach the fourth round
Who can beat Novak Djokovic is the question of the fortnight, and after the most popular answer of ‘no one’, Sinner’s name deserves a mention.
The seven-time champion, who was facing Hubert Hurkacz late last night, trailed Sinner by two sets to love in the quarter-finals here last year before surging back. It was the first time anyone had taken more than a set off Djokovic here since Roger Federer in the 2019 final.
Sinner has a dream quarter-final draw against Russian world No 92 Roman Safiullin, and Djokovic likely awaits after that. It would take the performance of his life, and likely an off-day for the Serb, but Sinner’s firepower gives him the chance of an upset.
Then he really would deserve his spot at the front of that painting.
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