Jannik Sinner showed no signs of injury as he delivered a commanding performance to defeat 10th-seeded Ben Shelton 7-6 (2), 6-4, 6-4 on Wednesday, securing his second trip to the Wimbledon semifinals.
Despite wearing a white compression sleeve on his right arm, with tape applied above and below his elbow, Sinner played confidently just two days after injuring his right elbow during a slip in his previous match against Grigor Dimitrov. During that match, Sinner experienced pain when serving and hitting forehands and even lost the first two sets before Dimitrov retired due to a chest muscle tear.
The Italian, a three-time Grand Slam winner and recent French Open finalist, underwent an MRI on Tuesday. He skipped a practice session but managed to hit some balls during a brief indoor session later that day.
“When you’re in a high-pressure match, you try not to focus on the pain,” Sinner said. “It’s gotten better from yesterday to today.” His next opponent will be either Novak Djokovic, a 24-time Grand Slam champion, or No. 22 seed Flavio Cobolli.
Sinner’s previous semifinal run at Wimbledon in 2023 ended with a loss to Djokovic.
On Centre Court, Sinner dominated the first set, winning 27 of 29 service points and hitting 15 winners against just one unforced error. Shelton remained competitive until 2-all in the tiebreak, but Sinner pulled away as Shelton made several errors.
In the second set, Shelton challenged Sinner’s serve, earning break points early, but Sinner responded with powerful serves—including a 132 mph ace—and aggressive play, preventing Shelton from capitalizing.
There was a brief moment when Sinner seemed to feel discomfort after returning a 141 mph serve from Shelton, but he quickly recovered.
During the third set, Shelton’s father and coach encouraged him to seize any chance, but Sinner maintained his form. He outpaced Shelton significantly, winning nearly twice as many baseline points and dominating longer rallies.
Sinner’s consistency against Shelton is notable, having won their last six encounters in straight sets, including matches at Wimbledon and the Australian Open last year.
After the match, Sinner dismissed any excuses related to his elbow injury.
“There’s no better place to play tennis, and I think I showed that today,” he said confidently.
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