LONDON — Shintaro Mochizuki reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career on Friday, rallying from a set down to defeat Spain’s Rafael Jodar 1-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-4 at Wimbledon and book a showdown with defending champion Jannik Sinner.
The 23-year-old Japanese qualifier completed the comeback in three hours on Court 18 before learning that world No. 1 Sinner had defeated American Jenson Brooksby 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 to secure their first career meeting in the Round of 16.
Ranked No. 151 in the ATP rankings, Mochizuki recovered impressively after a one-sided opening set in which Jodar dominated with aggressive returning. The Japanese player gradually found his rhythm, winning the second-set tiebreak before taking control of the final two sets to record the biggest victory of his career.
“The match was crazy,” Mochizuki said after the win. “I think Rafa started playing really well, especially on the returns. I wasn’t serving bad at all, but he was just ripping all the returns. I didn’t have anything to adjust until the middle of the second set.”
“Somehow I tried to go for the second serve a little bit more, and I think it got better. I started holding better and better. I was returning well from the beginning, so I just kept fighting.”
Mochizuki converted seven of his 19 break-point opportunities and won 71 percent of points behind his first serve as he completed the comeback against the 23rd seed.
The Japanese player arrived at Wimbledon without a tour-level victory this season but has transformed his fortunes in southwest London. After advancing through three rounds of qualifying, he defeated Britain’s Max Basing and American Ethan Quinn in straight sets before overcoming Jodar to reach the second week of a major for the first time.
The victory also secured Mochizuki a place in Japanese tennis history, making him only the fourth Japanese man in the Open Era to reach the Round of 16 at a Grand Slam. He joins Kei Nishikori, Yoshihito Nishioka and Shuzo Matsuoka on that exclusive list.
Mochizuki now faces his toughest challenge yet against Sinner, who is pursuing a second consecutive Wimbledon title and extended his winning streak at the All England Club to 10 matches with Friday’s victory over Brooksby.
For Jodar, the defeat ended an impressive Wimbledon debut that continued a breakthrough season. The 19-year-old Spaniard reached his first Grand Slam quarterfinal at the French Open earlier this year, captured his maiden ATP Tour title in Marrakech and advanced to consecutive ATP Masters 1000 quarterfinals in Madrid and Rome, further establishing himself as one of the ATP Tour’s rising young talents.
