Tennis - Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - July 11, 2023 Italy's Jannik Sinner celebrates winning his quarter final match against Russia's Roman Safiullin REUTERS/Hannah Mckay
LONDON (Reuters) - Jannik Sinner said cementing his spot in the world's top 10 had given him the mental edge in Grand Slams while gaining strength had helped him endure lengthy matches after the Italian eighth seed moved into the Wimbledon semi-finals on Tuesday.
The 21-year-old, who first broke into the top 10 in 2021 but reached a career-high number eight in April, produced power that belied his slender frame in a 6-4 3-6 6-2 6-2 win over Russian Roman Safiullin to emerge as a first-time major semi-finalist.
"For sure, physically I've improved. I'm much stronger. I can stay on court for many hours without suffering," Sinner, who has worked with former Australian player Darren Cahill this summer, told a press conference.
"Also mentally, you're going in a slightly different mental side on court knowing you're also a top 10 player. It's a little bit different. You might go as a favourite most of the time on the court till certain rounds of the tournament.
"I think also game-wise or tennis-wise I feel better. If I have to play the slice, I can play now without thinking. Before it was always a bit different. I can go to the net knowing I have good volleys.
"I have some good things now in my game and hopefully I can use it in the right way."
In the semi-finals Sinner will meet holder Novak Djokovic, who fought back from two sets down to outlast the Italian in the quarter-finals last year.
"It's one of the toughest, if not the toughest, challenge in front of me ... as I said before, it's a Grand Slam," Sinner said shortly before Djokovic beat Andrey Rublev to set up the clash.
"It's a very important round, the semi-finals. He's won 23 Grand Slams. Won in Australia, won in Paris. A huge confidence boost.
"It's going to be tough, but I'll obviously try my best, no? Last year I played a very good match against him. I've learned about it. Hopefully I can show this also on the court.
"I'm going to stay or I'm going to stick with my gameplan in my mind and hopefully I can execute it in the best possible way. So let's see."
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris)
