Jannik Sinner reaches Wimbledon semifinals amid elbow concerns, on 15-set streak against Ben Shelton

Jannik Sinner returned to Centre Court on Wednesday 48 hours after Grigor Dimitrov’s abrupt pectoral injury with a two-set lead sent the world No. 1 through to the quarterfinals.

Sinner had his own injury concerns to grapple with, having fallen on his right elbow in the early goings of that contest. His co-coach Darren Cahill shared on an ESPN broadcast Tuesday that his pupil headed indoors to hit fed balls for 20 to 30 minutes after Sinner’s scheduled practice on Aorangi was canceled.

While Sinner may not have been at 100 percent strength, he had no issues maintaining his dominance over Ben Shelton for a second career semifinal spot at The Championships. Wearing a wrapped elbow sleeve, Sinner took out the left-hander, 7-6 (2), 6-4, 6-4, a year after eliminating Shelton in the round of 16.

“Feelings are definitely different,” Sinner said in his on-court interview. “Very, very happy about today’s performance. Playing against him is so difficult. You have chances, then he serves very well.”

Any hope for the American to flip the script essentially went out the door over a 10-minute stretch. Shelton went up an immediate mini break in the opening tiebreaker, only to watch Sinner reel off the next seven points. The Italian then saved two break points to kick off the second set in what would prove to be Shelton’s last look at winning a return game.

Sinner broke his opponent to end both the second and third sets. He finished with 33 winners to 17 unforced errors and claimed 20 of his 30 second-serve points.

“When you are in a match with a lot of tension, you try to not think about it. It has improved a lot from yesterday to today,” Sinner said regarding his elbow.

Shelton won the pair’s first meeting at the 2023 Shanghai Masters. But since then, this matchup has been one-way traffic. Sinner has now taken 15 consecutive sets, adding to a 7-6 (2), 6-2, 6-2 victory in this year’s Australian Open semifinals that preceded a successful title defense.

Seeking his first Grand Slam title away from hard courts, Sinner awaits seven-time champion Novak Djokovic or compatriot Flavio Cobolli. Two-time reigning winner Carlos Alcaraz is set to meet fifth seed Taylor Fritz in the semifinal at the bottom half of the draw.