Mochizuki doesn’t mince words about Jannik Sinner: “It’s crazy”

Shintaro Mochizuki, 23, ranked No. 150 in the world, surprised everyone with his victory at Wimbledon over the higher-ranked Rafael Jodar. The Japanese tennis player, who has reached the round of 16 at a Grand Slam for the first time in his career, will now face world No. 1 Jannik Sinner in an unprecedented matchup set to take place this Sunday on Center Court.

“It feels strange for me to play against the world No. 1,” the Japanese player admitted to Sky. “It doesn’t happen to me often, especially at a Grand Slam. It’s crazy for me to even think about facing him—everyone knows who Sinner is.”

Mochizuki isn’t giving up before the match even starts: “I just want to enjoy the moment, and then we’ll see how it goes.” The Japanese player defeated Jodar in four sets, having previously eliminated the American Quinn and the Briton Basing. This is the Japanese player’s best-ever result at a Grand Slam.

The news of Jodar’s elimination also took Sinner himself by surprise; in his on-court interview after his victory over Brooksby, he looked visibly taken aback—a reaction that immediately went viral on social media. “I’ve never played him, but whoever makes it to the round of 16 deserves to be there—it’ll be a tough match,” the South Tyrolean commented right after the match.

At the press conference, the world No. 1 then elaborated on his analysis of his next opponent: “I’ve seen him play. He’s an excellent player, and especially on grass, his ball stays very low—which helps him a lot—and he also seems like a very aggressive player. We’ll see what happens: we’ve never trained together and we’ve never faced each other, so we’ll see. But above all, I’m trying to focus on my side of the court, and I know that right now, that’s the most important thing.”