There were fears when Sinner walked off Centre Court at 1-2 in the third set, emerging around 10 minutes later and continuing the match. He looked out of sorts for the rest of the set but managed to get himself back on serve and even had set points before losing it in a tiebreak.
The Australian Open champion lost after exactly four hours and later gave an update on his health, claiming that the physio encouraged him to take a break because he didn’t seem fit to play. “Already this morning I didn’t feel great. Had some problems. Then with the fatigue, it was tough,” Sinner explained.
“But nothing to take away from Daniil. I think he played very smart. He played good tennis. That’s it.” Addressing his brief time away from the court, Sinner said he initially didn’t want to leave.
The Italian continued: “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 that what I had today. No, that’s it.”
Sinner also confirmed that he didn’t throw up when he left for 10 minutes, though he wasn’t feeling great. “Yeah, I was [ill]. I was not feeling great. I didn’t vomit. This, no. But took some time because I was dizzy quite a lot,” he added.
“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.”
Asked whether there was an illness going around the locker room, the top seed replied: “No. Everyone seems okay. Obviously now you don’t have that much contact with the players. It’s quite empty now, the locker room.
“But everyone seems okay. It was just me that I felt during this night a little bit like this. I couldn’t sleep the hours I wanted to. But these things can happen, so just unfortunate. That’s it.”
However, Sinner never planned to retire throughout the four-hour contest. “I was also surprised that I pushed the match longer, no?
“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,” he said.
“I was still in shape to play somehow. The fifth sets 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.”