"It's one of my best results. I didn't expect it because I had never played very well on grass," commented the 20-year-old Italian, who is taking part in his second Wimbledon after his elimination in the first round last year.

He had never even won a match on grass before starting this 2022 edition of the London Major.

This year, he has therefore climbed to the quarterfinals where he will face the triple title holder Novak Djokovic (3rd) or the surprising Dutchman Tim van Rijthoven (104th and beneficiary of an invitation).

Sinner had already reached the Grand Slam quarter-finals twice (Roland-Garros 2020 and Australian Open this year), without managing to go further.

For his part, the 19-year-old Spaniard, a phenomenon of the first half of the season, was also playing his second Wimbledon -- the third tournament on grass of his career -- after an elimination in the second round last year.

In their very intense Sunday duel, Alcaraz played very well, but Sinner even better.

The Italian (35 winning points for 41 unforced errors) conceded seven break points but never conceded his service game.

Alcaraz, he lost his serve four times (on 12 break points) and managed 33 winning shots for 39 unforced errors.

At 1-1 in the first set, Sinner lined up seven plays to pocket the first set and come away 2-0 in the second.

Alcaraz then interrupted the infernal spiral, but too late for this second round which he conceded.

The level was balanced in the third.

Alcaraz was much more threatened on his service games than his opponent, but he reached the tie break where he took a clear advantage by offering himself three set points at 6/3.

The Italian then lined up four points to afford a first match point, saved by Alcaraz who will save a second at 8/7.

Carlos Alcaraz too short to resist Jannik Sinner at Wimbledon, July 3, 2022 Adrian DENNIS AFP

At 8/8, the Spaniard had a superb drop-off half-volley which gave him a fourth set point and this time Sinner cracked in an exchange of great intensity, ending up committing a fault.

"It's hard to keep playing your best when you've missed match points," he said.

But while he seemed more physically affected than his opponent, Sinner took the upper hand in the fourth set by scoring the break to lead 3-1.

He still got three match points on Alcaraz's serve at 5-2, but had to wait for his own next service game to conclude, on the sixth match point in total, after 3:35 of the match and after having saved a final break point.

© 2022 AFP