Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic are heavy favorites in the Wimbledon fourth round as they continue their collision course for the semifinals. They are facing Shintaro Mochizuki and Roman Safiullin, respectively, on Sunday.
(1) Jannik Sinner vs. (Q) Shintaro Mochizuki
Sinner has not been his normally dominant self so far at Wimbledon, but he has managed to win his last two matches in straight sets on the heels of an alarming five-setter against Miomir Kecmanovic on Day 1 of the Championships. After what happened at the French Open (a five-set, second-round loss to Juan Manuel Cerundolo that was entirely due to physical problems), Sinner should not be concerned with the manner in which he is advancing. The bottom line is that the top-ranked Italian is safely into the second week.
Standing in Sinner’s way of the quarterfinals is an unlikely opponent in Mochizuki, a 23-year-old qualifier from Japan who is ranked No. 151 in the world. Perhaps we should not be so surprised, though, because Mochizuki is an absolute force on grass. He is 26-16 lifetime as a pro on this surface (19-6 dating back to last summer) and also won the junior Wimbledon title in 2019. Mochizuki is through to his first Grand Slam fourth round following victories over Max Basing, Ethan Quinn, and Rafael Jodar. This is going to be a sneaky high-quality match with probably at least a couple of competitive sets, but Sinner should advance in straights.
Pick: Sinner in 3
(Q) Roman Safiullin vs. (7) Novak Djokovic
Wimbledon is without question Djokovic’s best chance to win at least one more Grand Slam in his career, and he is certainly playing like that’s the case so far this fortnight. It may be not be prime Djokovic on display, but dropping just two total sets in matches against Yibing Wu, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Arthur Rinderknech is good news for the 39-year-old Serb. He is now an absurd 105-13 lifetime at the All-England Club (with seven titles), including 47-3 in his last 50 matches. Djokovic is not exactly slowing down at this particular tournament.
Up next for the world No. 8 is a fourth meeting with Safiullin, who has lost all three of their previous encounters in straight sets. The 28-year-old Russian has forced a tiebreaker once, but the other set scores have been 6-1, 6-1, 6-2, 6-3, and 6-2. Although Safiullin is coming off an eye-popping straight-set win over Joao Fonseca, his first two matches went to fifth-set tiebreakers — so there is a chance that both mental and physical fatigue could be a factor. Regardless, this sets up very favorably for Djokovic.
Pick: Djokovic in 3
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Well done Authur Fery
The lad done good, what a fighter
Novak in 4 sets at the most could be 3 but these days Novak often loses focus and it’s enough for his opponents to sneak a set.
Sinner in 3, he simply has too much power and precision for Shintaro.
Sinner in 4; Joker in 3…..and how about Dimitrov today!!!
And Fery