Jannik Sinner eased pre-match injury fears to sweep past Ben Shelton in straight sets on Wednesday, setting up a Wimbledon semi-final against Novak Djokovic or Flavio Cobolli.
Sinner wore a protective sleeve on his right arm during his 7-6 (7/2), 6-4, 6-4 quarter-final victory against 10th seed Shelton in two hours 19 minutes.
But the 23-year-old, who hurt himself in the previous round against Grigor Dimitrov, battled through the discomfort to reach his second semi-final at the All England Club.
Sinner, who grimaced after returning one of Shelton’s serves in the second set, said after the match on Court One that he was on the mend.
“You know, when you are in a match with a lot of tension, you try to not think about it,” said the Italian when asked about his injury.
“It has improved a lot from yesterday to today. Yesterday, my day was very short on the practice court, 20 minutes with the coaches only.”
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But he added: “This is no excuse. There is no better stage to play tennis and think I showed this today. Again, you know, the atmosphere helps me so much, so thank you so much for the support.”
The top seed had sparked fears he may have to pull out of the tournament after falling early in his fourth-round tie against Dimitrov.
The Italian top seed was trailing by two sets and on the brink of a shock exit when the Bulgarian pulled a pectoral muscle while serving and had to retire.
Sinner, a three-time Grand Slam champion, slashed his training schedule on Tuesday and had a scan to determine the extent of his injury.
The world number one, who has never reached the Wimbledon final, is the first Italian man to reach the last four at the All England Club multiple times, following his previous semi-final appearance in 2023.
Beaten by Carlos Alcaraz in an epic French Open final in June, when he blew a two-set lead and squandered three championship points, Sinner had been revitalised in his first three matches at Wimbledon.
He dropped just 17 games to equal a 53-year-old record for the fewest games conceded en route to the Wimbledon men’s last 16.
Shelton had surpassed his father and coach Bryan, who reached the Wimbledon last 16 31 years ago, but he was no match for Sinner, who is seeking to reach his fourth straight Grand Slam final.
The Italian ground his way through a gruelling first set lasting 52 minutes.
Shelton was also in the wars and the 22-year-old needed his left ankle re-taped late in the set.
Sinner broke in the 10th game of the second set to seize a two-set lead.
The third set was a tight affair, going with serve until the 10th game, when Shelton faltered.
Sinner needed three match points but celebrated when the American went long.
Source: Channels TV
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