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Jannik Sinner has revealed he was experiencing dizziness out on court during his five-set defeat to Daniil Medvedev in the Wimbledon quarter-finals on Tuesday.
The world No 1 was clearly under the weather from the start and, with the match at one set apiece, left the court at the start of the third set for more than 10 minutes.
A doctor checked his pulse and blood pressure and thought the Italian returned and continued to battle - forcing a deciding fifth set - Medvedev prevailed after four hours of action.
Speaking in his press conference afterwards, the 22-year-old revealed how he was feeling out on court.
“Already this morning I didn’t feel great,” Sinner said. “Had some problems. Then with the fatigue, it was tough.
“I went off the court actually. I didn’t want to go off. The physio told me better to take some time because he watched me, and I didn’t seem in shape to play. I was struggling physically. It was not easy moment. I tried to fight with what I had today.
“I was not feeling great. I didn’t vomit. This, no. But took some time because I was dizzy quite a lot. Yeah, actually off court I had a little bit the toughest time maybe.
“When I went back, I tried my best. Obviously disappointed about the third set. Had couple of set points. Couldn’t use them. Fourth set I raised my level a little bit. In the fifth I had just one poor service game, which decided the match.”
Sinner added that he did not consider retiring from the match despite the discomfort.
“No, I was also surprised that I pushed the match longer, no?” he added.
“I retired a lot two years ago. It’s something I don’t want to retire if it’s only a little bit of illness or sick or whatever. I was still in shape to play somehow. The fifth set I felt a little bit better again. The energy level was a bit up. Today the energy level was not consistent. It was up and down.
“Like this, it’s also not easy to handle the situations on the court. It happens. I was never thinking about retire. This, no. But for sure the crowd helped me a lot trying to push me. You don’t want to retire in a quarterfinal of a Grand Slam.”
Sinner, the Australian Open champion who beat Medvedev in five sets in January, was eyeing a spot in the semis at Wimbledon for the second consecutive year.
Instead it will be Russian fifth seed Medvedev who will take on defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals on Friday.
