There was an unusual moment during Jannik Sinner’s quarter-final clash with Jan-Lennard Struff at WimbledonTom Victor Senior Sports Journalist and Ben Pawlowski
15:43, 07 Jul 2026Updated 15:47, 07 Jul 2026
(Image: BBC)
BBC commentator John McEnroe delivered an immediate reaction to a peculiar incident that disrupted the Wimbledon quarter-final between Jan-Lennard Struff and Jannik Sinner. Top seed Sinner had a break point on the Struff serve early in the second set when a spare ball tumbled out of the German’s pocket mid-rally.
The umpire called a let, giving Struff another opportunity to stay in the match. The umpire has the discretion to award a point to the opposing player if they believe the offence was intentional, but Struff was given a reprieve on this occasion and there was no indication of any deliberate wrongdoing.
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“The ball fell out of his pocket,” McEnroe said. “First [time it happens] they play a let then second time he loses the point.”
A replay was subsequently shown, with the American continuing: “Let’s see if he did it on purpose… no”.
He then joked: “It’s a long rally! I need a break here. Whoops. I’m probably not going to win this point!'” Fellow commentator Andrew Castle then said: “That is a tremendous disadvantage for Sinner. He loses the point because of hindrance if that happens again. Sew the pocket up or lose the point. He’s actually stuffing the ball further down.”
McEnroe followed up his assessment by calling for a VAR-style review system for situations such as this. “They should go to video replay in the future, and see if the person’s done it deliberately,” he said.
“Now, in that case, it was not deliberate,” he added. When Castle suggested there were enough monitors and surveillance equipment on the premises, his co-commentator drew a World Cup comparison, saying: “Like France-Paraguay when the guy tried to mess them shooting up the penalty kick. That’s weak, man.”
McEnroe called for a VAR-style review system(Image: BBC)
The BBC commentary team noted that the rule is more typically invoked when a player’s hat falls off during a point. McEnroe, however, recalled witnessing similar incidents on rare occasions in the past.
Having been handed a lifeline, Struff saved the break point and held his serve, making it 1-0 in the second set. Sinner then broke him in the following service game, only to be broken back immediately.
“Why would it be a hindrance on the second time it happens and not the first?” Castle asked after the 36-year-old held serve. “That has materially affected this match at this point.”
The ball unexpectedly fell out of Struff’s pocket mid-rally(Image: BBC)
Following the reigning champion’s service break, the BBC indicated he was beginning to assert his dominance. Nevertheless, the match was far from over, with Struff showcasing how tournaments on home soil have helped German players flourish on grass.
“We have as well in Germany great grass court tournaments leading into Wimbledon, as well,” he said after his fourth round match. “We have Stuttgart, Halle. On the women’s side I think Berlin, Bad Homburg. It’s amazing events. That helps us.
“I think in the past we had great success here for some German players, Boris [Becker], Steffi [Graf], [Michael] Stich, to name a few. Yeah, amazing. It’s good that Germans [are getting] good results.”
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