“A very tough opponent, a very nice person, it's always a huge pleasure for me to play against him” - Jannik Sinner on Carlos Alcaraz

Jannik Sinner secured an emphatic four-sets win against Carlos Alcaraz in the fourth round of the 2022 Wimbledon Championships on Sunday. The Italian beat Alcaraz 6-1, 6-4, 6-7(8), 6-3 on Centre Court to secure his maiden quarterfinal berth at SW19.

In his three-hour, 35-minute victory, the 10th seed read Alcaraz's serve to great effect and returned with precision to put pressure on the 19-year-old right from the start.

After the match, Sinner said that he was happy to get to the quarterfinals by winning on what was an important day for the Centre Court.

“Carlos [Alcaraz] is a very tough opponent and a very nice person. It's always a huge pleasure for me to play against him, especially today in front of such a great crowd on a special day today, the hundredth year [of the Centre Court]. It's just amazing,” Sinner said.

“I didn't expect [to reach the quarterfinals] because I was not playing so well on grass, and I got better with each match. I won my [career’s] first grass court match here in the first round and now I'm in the quarterfinals,” he added.

Sinner won five games in a row to take the opening set with ease. Alcaraz fought better in the second set but could not stop the 20-year-old from going two sets up.

The 19-year-old recovered from 40-0 down to hold his serve in the opening game of the third set and then showed resilience in the tie-break by fending off two match points before converting his fourth set point.

It only put off the inevitable, as Sinner composed himself and hit 35 winners, converting his sixth match point to emerge victorious.

After squandering two set points in the third set, the World No. 13 was briefly on the backfoot before he recovered and shut down a possible comeback by Alcaraz.

“It's tough when you have a match point and you still have to play [another set]. I tried my best, [losing match points] is just a part of the game. Obviously, I'm very happy with how I reacted because at the beginning of the fourth set I was struggling,” Sinner said, adding, “I'm very happy to be in the next round and, hopefully, I can play some good tennis in the next round too.”

Following the win against Carlos Alcaraz at the All England Club, Jannik Sinner became the youngest man to reach the quarterfinals at The Championships since Nick Kyrgios in 2014.

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Carlos Alcaraz vs Jannik Sinner: The lowest aggregate age in a 4th round Grand Slam match since 2008

Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships

The clash between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner featured the lowest aggregate age of opponents in the fourth round of a men's Grand Slam since Juan Martin del Potro faced Kei Nishikori in the Round of 16 at the 2008 US Open.

Fifth seed Alcaraz, who turned 19 in May, went down to Sinner, who will celebrate his 21st birthday in August. Del Potro was less than a month short of his 20th birthday when he faced a 18-year-old Nishikori in the fourth round of the 2008 US Open.

The fourth-round clash between Jimmy Connors and Bernie Mitton at Wimbledon in 1973 was the previous match involving a younger duo at the tournament. American tennis legend Connors, who was 20, got past an 18-year-old Mitton in the fourth round.