Italian world number one Jannik Sinner continued his title defense and reached the Wimbledon semifinals on Tuesday by defeating German world number 74 Jan-Lennard Struff 7-5, 7-6(7-4), 6-3.

In his first Grand Slam quarterfinal at age 36, Struff put up a strong fight against the 24-year-old Italian in the first two sets, which were highly competitive.

But Sinner's experience in crucial points allowed him to break his opponent's serve to lead 6-5, before closing out the first set on his serve.

In the second set, the German had a set point on his serve at 5-4, but Sinner saved it with three aces, before asserting his dominance in the tiebreak, helped by the strength of his first serve (16 aces to Struff's 12 in the match).

The world number 74 struggled even more on serve in the third set (36% first-serve success rate), before succumbing to a long backhand down the line from the Italian, who went ahead 5-3 and then sealed his fourth win over the German in their fourth meeting on his serve, ending the match in two hours and 35 minutes.

To book his spot in the final, Sinner could face Serbian eighth seed Novak Djokovic, 39, who is chasing a record 25th Grand Slam title and will later face Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime, the fourth seed.

Gauff and Pegula embrace after the match (AP)

In the women's draw, American Coco Gauff, world number seven and seeking her third major title, reached the Wimbledon semifinals for the first time by rallying past her compatriot, fourth seed Jessica Pegula, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.

The 22-year-old entered this year's tournament without a win on grass since 2024, but she posted her fifth consecutive victory at the All England Club by defeating her compatriot Pegula.

Gauff will play on Thursday her first Grand Slam semifinal since Roland Garros 2025, where she won the title.

Pegula exits Wimbledon (AFP)

In the next round, she will face Japanese world number 14 Naomi Osaka or Czech ninth seed Karolina Muchova.

Gauff, who won the US Open in 2023 in addition to her Roland Garros title in 2025, has lost all three of her semifinals on grass since the start of her career: Berlin in 2022 and 2024, and Eastbourne in 2023.

Gauff started poorly, losing her serve quickly, before breaking back to level at 3-3.

But she soon lost her serve again without resistance, losing the first set shortly after.

Gauff came back strongly and broke Pegula's serve without losing a point to lead 4-3 in the second set.

After squandering a break advantage early in the decisive third set, she sealed matters with another break of Pegula's serve without losing a point to go up 4-3, then 5-3.

Moments later, Pegula's 24th unforced error of the match handed the young American the ticket to the semifinals.