Jannik Sinner shakes off injury fears to beat Ben Shelton and reach Wimbledon semi-finals

World No. 1 Jannik Sinner went into his Wimbledon quarter-final against Ben Shelton with concerns over whether he might be hampered by an elbow injury. But Sinner, who was wearing a sleeve on his right arm, came through in straight sets to advance to his fourth straight Grand Slam semi-final. Sinner next faces seven-time champion Novak Djokovic after he beat Flavio Cobolli.

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Jannik Sinner shook off concerns over his elbow injury as he beat Ben Shelton in straight sets to make his second Wimbledon semi-final.
World No. 1 Sinner played with a sleeve on his arm following a fall in the previous round that required an MRI scan.
But he didn’t appear hampered by the issue at all as he won 7-6(2) 6-4 6-4 against 10th seed Shelton.
Asked about his injury after the victory, Sinner said: "When you are in the match with a lot of tension you try to not think about it, 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.
"It is no excuse, there is no better stage to play tennis and I showed that today, the atmosphere helps me so much."
He added in his press conference: "I had quite good feelings in the warm-up today so I felt also yesterday that mentally I have to get ready. I put into my mind that I'm going to play today.
"So the concerns were not that big if I would play or not. It was just a matter of what my percentage is and today was very high, so I'm happy."
Sinner next faces seven-time champion Novak Djokovic after he beat Flavio Cobolli.
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Jannik Sinner wore a sleeve on his arm against Ben Shelton

Image credit: Getty Images

Sinner has won his last four meetings against Djokovic, but has lost the previous two times they have played at Wimbledon in 2022 and 2023.
"Me and Novak, we know us better because we played quite a lot. So we understand what's working and what's not," said Sinner.
"I've never won against him here in Wimbledon, so it's going to be a very, very tough challenge."
The world No. 1 will be playing in his fourth straight Grand Slam semi-final and on the evidence of his win over Shelton should start as the favourite.
Just 24 hours earlier, Sinner had cancelled a practice session following an MRI scan, while around 48 hours earlier he had been two sets to love down against Grigor Dimitrov in the last 16 before the Bulgarian had to retire with injury.
Although he wore a sleeve against Shelton, Sinner did not appear hampered in a tight first set that saw neither player fashion a chance to break.
Shelton earned the first mini-break in the tie-breaker but Sinner got back to 2-2 with a backhand winner down the line.
Three missed forehands from Shelton handed the advantage to Sinner and he claimed the set.
Sinner was on the mark again to start the second set as he used his strong forehand to save a couple of break points.
Shelton also used his powerful forehand to fend off a break point in the eighth game.
But with the set on the line it was Sinner who stepped up and secured the break to take further control of the contest.
The third set followed a similar pattern with no openings for either player until the 10th game.
Shelton saved two match points but then double faulted to give Sinner another chance and this time he took it to reach the last four.
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