It was after losing in the US Open final last year that Jannik Sinner said he needed to be less predictable if he was to beat Carlos Alcaraz more regularly. Moving forward, finishing points at the net, he added, would help him against all opponents.For a while in his Wimbledon third-round encounter with Jenson Brooksby, it seemed as if Sinner had forgotten all about his own advice. With the exception of a bounce smash, he barely ventured towards the net in the first set, happy enough to crank his huge groundstrokes from the baseline instead. In the second set, though, something clicked. The Italian won 11 out of 11 points at the net and even served and volleyed four times, winning all four. Note to self: get forward.With a two-set lead, the world No 1 felt comfortable enough to go back to his baseline game in the third and was good value for his victory, winning 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 in two hours, 13 minutes. He’s through to the last 16 for the fifth straight year and the win cements his status as the strong favourite, not least with Alcaraz missing through injury. He’ll play Shintaro Mochizuki, the former junior champion who upset the Spanish teenager Rafael Jódar in four sets.“Very happy about the win,” Sinner said. “Trying to improve every day. Small step forward today [but] trying to get better. If I want to go far in this tournament, couple of things I need to handle better, but all in all, very happy. He’s a very tough opponent.”The only glitch came when Sinner was broken when he served for the match at 5-3 in the third set, perhaps bringing back memories of his collapse at the same stage of his second-round match at Roland Garros last month. But he righted the ship in the following game and finished things off when Brooksby sent a forehand long.Serbia's Novak Djokovic prepares to return to France's Arthur Rinderknech during their men's singles third round tennis match on the fifth day of the 2026 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, on July 3, 2026. (Photo by Glyn KIRK / AFP via Getty Images) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic battled past Arthur Rinderknech to keep alive his chance of reaching 25 grand slams.In the dying embers of pulsating match n centre court, the 39-year-old morphed into a young Boris Becker, flying through the air to hit a diving backhand lob volley at matchpoint. At this point Rinderknech was also on the floor after slipping at the net.There was little in the Frenchman’s grass court record of 15 wins and 18 defeats to suggest he could put the greatest player in history through the ringer, save for his victory over Alexander Zverev at last year’s Wimbledon. Yet his 6ft 5in frame, booming serve, and surprisingly soft hands, gave Djokovic all he could handle.Incredibly, Rinderknech won more points: 117 compared to Djokovic’s 108. He also hit more aces: 21 to 15. And for good measure, the he also clouted substantially more winners too – 67 to 40. But yet again, the Serb found a way to win this third-round match, 7-5, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (4).Djokovic admitted he was desperately relieved on the final point. “Well, I saw him slip and fall down, so I was thinking: ‘Please, just stay down’ for that last shot. I am just really relieved to come through.”Elsewhere, Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff reached the last 16 for the first time with a 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5), 7-5 win over former world No 1 Daniil Medvedev.In the women’s singles, there were straight-sets wins for both Aryna Sabalenka and Naomi Osaka, who fought off Jelena Ostapenkp and Daria Kasatkina respectively to reach the Round of 16. – Guardian