'A small step forward in a good direction' - Sinner into semi-finalspublished at 19:49 BST 7 July
Image source, PA MediaWorld number one Jannik Sinner has been speaking to Clare Balding on BBC One following his quarter-final win earlier today: "The main goal was to win the match, even if it goes to four or five [sets]. Mentally, you know that you have a few days off which is quite unusual during a tournament. Tomorrow is going to be a very relaxed day. Then on Thursday, getting back into rhythm and being ready on Friday.
"It was a good, solid performance today from my side. It's tough to play against Jan [Struff] because he's a big, big server. There wasn't a lot of rhythm and from the back of the court, it was really tough to find the right balance on court. I felt like in the important moments, I tried to play the best I can. The tie-break was very crucial, going up two sets to love was very important today.
"I'm more comfortable. Mentally, I knew that the first couple of matches, I'm coming here with no preparational tournament. It was something different but the outcome seems good. Today I felt like it was a small step forward in a good direction. Big serves are tough to break and beat on this kind of surface.
"I know I need to play the best I can on Friday. This is going to be a problem on Friday now. For now, switch off mentally and not think about tennis for a day."
On how he will rest: "I'm going to sleep for sure. I'm a big sleeper in the morning, I'm not a morning person. Let's see, it's going to be warm tomorrow, I'm trying not to waste energy."
On Flavio Cobolli and Jasmine Paolini also doing well at Wimbledon: "From an Italian point of view, it's good to have others in the tournament. Especially here in Wimbledon, the most prestigious tournament you have and to have three Italians fighting for it, it's amazing."
On Cobolli's next opponent, British wildcard Arthur Fery: "He had an amazing win, it was nice. A tough one for Grigor [Dimitrov] but it's a nice story. Finding himself in the quarter-finals of Wimbledon is very special."
















