Wimbledon 2026: Jannik Sinner beats Shintaro Mochizuki to reach fifth straight quarterfinal

World No. 1 Jannik Sinner continued his title defence at Wimbledon in commanding fashion, defeating Japanese qualifier Shintaro Mochizuki 6-3, 7-6(0), 6-3 on Sunday to reach the quarterfinals for the fifth consecutive year.

With the victory, Sinner became the 11th man in the Open Era to reach five Wimbledon quarterfinals and only the second active player, after seven-time champion Novak Djokovic, to achieve the feat.

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“It was the first time we played against each other,” Sinner said. “I didn’t know exactly what to expect, but I tried to handle certain situations slightly better than him, which I did. He’s an incredible player. Coming through qualifying and maintaining such a high level for so long is amazing. He should be proud of himself.

“It was very tricky to play him, especially on this surface. His game suits grass very well because he stays so low, but I tried to be a bit more aggressive. I had some chances in the second set but couldn’t take them. Still, I’m very happy with today’s performance and I’m trying to improve a little every day.”

Mochizuki made an impressive start and earned the opening break point of the match, but Sinner quickly snuffed out the threat before breaking the Japanese player’s serve to seize control of the opening set, which he wrapped up in just 33 minutes.

The second set proved far more competitive. Mochizuki held comfortably through his opening service games and repeatedly frustrated Sinner with his variety, sharp backhand and refusal to give the Italian any pace to work with.

Sinner appeared increasingly frustrated as he squandered three break points during a marathon game featuring seven deuces. While the Italian dominated the shorter rallies, Mochizuki consistently came out on top in the longer exchanges, forcing the top seed into uncomfortable positions.

With the Centre Court roof closed before the latter stages of the match, Sinner returned with renewed intent, opting for a more aggressive approach rather than waiting for errors from his resilient opponent.

The second set ultimately turned on the tie-break. Mochizuki faltered at the crucial moment, failing to win a single point as Sinner raced through it 7-0 to take a commanding two-set lead.

Having surrendered the momentum, the qualifier was unable to mount a comeback, allowing Sinner to close out the third set and secure another place in the last eight as his pursuit of back-to-back Wimbledon titles gathered pace.