Sinner’s Arm No Problem, Through To Second Wimbledon Semifinal

Jannik Sinner
Jannik Sinner (photo: Wimbledon video)

WIMBLEDON/WASHINGTON, July 9, 2025 (by Michael Dickens)

Jannik Sinner‘s win-loss record against Americans is an impressive one – he’s won 20 straight. With his sixth consecutive win over No. 10 seed Ben Shelton in seven career meetings, the World No. 1 Sinner has become the first Italian player to reach multiple semifinals at the Wimbledon Championships.

Wednesday afternoon on No. 1 Court, the top-seeded Sinner defeated Shelton, 7-6 (2), 6-4, 6-4, in two hours and 19 minutes. The South Tyrolean, wearing a protective sleeve over his hurt right elbow, brought his ‘A’ game to his quarterfinal tussle with the American No. 2 and maintained the upper hand throughout.

In a rematch of their round of 16 Wimbledon encounter from last year, which Sinner won in straight sets and recorded another straight-set victory over the American in the Australian Open semifinals in January en route of his third major title, the 23-year-old World No. 1 showed no signs of slowing down after hurting his right elbow and wrist early in his fourth-round match against No. 17 seed Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria Monday evening. (Dimitrov was forced to retire after winning the first two sets and was tied 2-2 in the third when he injured his right pectoral muscle.)

Instead, Sinner was steadier than Shelton. He won seven-straight points to close out the first-set tie-break, then converted the only breaks of serve in the second and third sets to clinch the victory.

Sinner won 89 percent of his first-serve points – dropping just six points on his first serve – and hit 33 winners, including seven aces. Sinner won 19 of 22 exchanges at the net, saved the only two break points he faced from Shelton and broke his opponent twice in five opportunities. Sinner outpointed Shelton 106-81. The victory improved his lifetime Wimbledon win-loss record to 18-4.

Shelton, a former NCAA singles champion from the University of Florida, countered with 29 winners but also made 38 unforced errors. He fired 14 aces, the last one a 140-mile-per-hour bomb that erased Sinner’s second match point. However, Sinner set up his third and final match-point opportunity when Shelton committed his sixth double fault. Soon after, he won the quarterfinal match when Shelton sailed a third-shot forehand return long.

“I’m very, very happy about today’s performance,” said Sinner, a three-time major champion who has compiled a remarkable 41-3 win-loss record in his last seven majors, during his on-court interview. “Playing against him is so difficult. You have chances and then he serves very well, as we saw in the last game. Overall, we play each other more and more, we got to know each other a little bit better, and I’m looking forward to these kinds of battles.”

Sinner, who held a short indoor practice on Tuesday, was asked about his arm during his on-court interview. “When you are in a match with a lot of tension, you try to not think about it,” he said. “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. But I [was] looking forward to [the match].”

Djokovic rallies past Cobolli, two wins from 25th major title

In the other men’s quarterfinal match, 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic fought past No. 22 seed Flavio Cobolli of Italy, 6-7 (6), 6-2, 7-5, 6-4, in three hours and 11 minutes on Centre Court for his 102nd career Wimbledon victory. The Serbian great moved to within two wins of a record-extending 25th major. He will meet World No. 1 Jannik Sinner in the semifinal round on Friday.

Although Cobolli saved two match points – the second one which saw Djokovic take a nasty slip on the grass, grimacing in pain – the seven-time Wimbledon champion, seeded sixth this year, won on his third match-point opportunity with a forehand touch volley winner at the net.

“Well I finished the match,” Djokovic said during his on-court interview, after being asked how he felt after losing his balance. “It was a nasty slip but that is what happens when you play on the grass. I think I hadn’t fallen so far this year. It is a bit surprising because the way I move on the grass, a lot of sliding, aggressive movement, you are expected to fall and have this kind of situation.

“It did come at an awkward moment but I managed to find a good serve and close it out. I am going to visit this subject now with my physio.”

Djokovic won 75 percent of his first-serve points, hit 39 winners – including 13 aces – and converted six of 12 break points. He won 24 of 36 net-point exchanges and outpointed Cobolli 142-116. The 23-year-old Italian countered with 51 winners – including 13 aces – and won 14 of 25 points at the net. He broke Djokovic’s serve twice in two tries. However Cobolli’s 44 unforced errors, no doubt, aided Djokovic.

“A huge congratulations to Flavio for an amazing tournament. I played him once last year on hard courts and we have hit together quite a bit on different surfaces but we had never played on grass,” Djokovic added.

“I had seen him play here and knew he was playing well. It is always different practising from playing in an official match. He played at a really high level. I think what surprised me a lot was his serve. He served at a really fast pace and was going for his shots. He is such a talented and skillful player and one of the guys we will be seeing in the future.”

With his latest victory, the 38-year-old Djokovic set a Wimbledon record for most appearances in the men’s singles semifinals with 14, surpassing the old mark of 13, which he shared with Roger Federer. He also extended his record for most Grand Slam semifinal appearances with 52.

Two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz of Spain and 2024 US Open finalist Taylor Fritz of the United States advanced to the last four with quarterfinal victories on Tuesday.

Bencic first Swiss Wimbledon semifinalist since Hingis in 1997-98

Belinda Bencic is just two wins away from becoming the first mother to lift the Venus Rosewater Dish given to the Ladies’ singles champion since Australia’s Evonne Goolagong Cawley won the Wimbledon title in 1980.

Wednesday on Centre Court, the 28-year-old Swiss star ended the run of No. 7 seed Mirra Andreeva of Russia, winning a pair of tiebreakers to advance with a 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2) win in two hours and eight minutes on Centre Court. Bencic put away an overhead smash winner to finish off a 16-shot rally on match point, denying Andreeva of a 37th win this season.

The victory lifted Bencic to her second major semifinal following her last-four run at the 2019 US Open. She’s the second Swiss woman to reach the Wimbledon semifinals following Martina Hingis, who twice was a semifinalist in 1997-98 – winning it all in 1997.

“I’m so grateful to be able to play on Centre Court, again. I think it’s just my third time. It’s always so magical,” Bencic said during her on-court interview after the victory. After returning from maternity leave following the birth of her daughter Bella last year, Bencic started the 2025 season ranked near 500th  in the world. She is now ranked No. 35 and will return to the WTA Top 20 by reaching the semifinals at the All England Club.

In beating Andreeva, who was the highest-remaining seed in the lower half of the women’s draw, Bencic won 73 percent of her first-serve points, hit 20 winners, made 24 unforced errors and converted one of four break points. She outpointed Andreeva 94-84.

The 18-year-old Russian, who was the first teenager to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals since 2009, struck 35 winners but also committed 37 unforced errors. She broke Bencic once in four tries.

During her on-court interview, Bencic was asked to describe the feeling of making her first Wimbledon semifinal. She replied: “It’s crazy, it’s unbelievable. It’s a dream come true. I tried not to think about during the match point. … I’m just speechless, so happy.”

On Thursday, Bencic face former No. 1 and five-time major champion Iga Swiatek of Poland in the semifinal round. The eighth-seeded Swiatek handled No. 19 seed Liudmila Samsonova of Russia, 6-2, 7-5 in one hour and 49 minutes on No. 1 Court for her 40th victory of the season. The win lifted Swiatek (40-11) into her first Wimbledon semifinal.

“Honestly, it feels great, even though I’m in the middle of a tournament,” Swiatek said during her on-court interview. “I’ve got goosebumps after this win. I’m super happy and super proud of myself. I’ll keep going.”

Playing in her 26th main draw of a major – and the sixth time in the Wimbledon main draw – Swiatek reached her ninth semifinal appearance at a Grand Slam by beating Samsonova for the fifth straight time. She eclipsed her previous Wimbledon best finish, when she lost to Elina Svitolina in the 2023 quarterfinals. Swiatek is also the first Polish woman to reach the Wimbledon semifinals since Aga Radwanska in 2015.

Swiatek won 70 percent of her first-serve points, including 10-for-10 during the opening set. She hit 21 winners, converted five of eight break points and outpointed Samsonova 75-59. The Russian was hampered by five double faults and 38 unforced errors. She was only able to convert two of 10 break points.

While the 24-year-old Swiatek has won four Roland-Garros titles on clay and once at the US Open on a hard court – as well as two semifinal finishes at the Australian Open – she always struggled in the later rounds on grass at Wimbledon.

“I’m enjoying playing this year,” said Swiatek, in regards to her love/hate relationship with grass. She’s 15-5 in her Wimbledon career, including 5-0 this year. To her credit, she’s won 17 of her last 20 matches on grass courts, which includes a run to the Bad Homburg final last month.

“Hopefully, it’s going to last as long as possible. For sure, I’ve really worked hard to progress on this surface. I feel I can work with it, work with myself. It’s a pleasure to play in front of you guys. Thanks for the support.”

Along with World No. 1 and top seed Aryna Sabalenka, Victoria Azarenka and Karolina Pliskova, Swiatek is the fourth active player to reach the semifinals of all four Grand Slams.

Meanwhile, the loss ended the best run at a major for Samsonova (24-16), who was playing in her 21st Grand Slam and fourth at Wimbledon.

Around the All-England Club

• Former Top-10 player Fabio Fognini of Italy, now ranked 138th, announced his retirement from professional tennis Wednesday at Wimbledon, where he lost in the first round to two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz on Day 1 of The Championships in a five-set thriller, 7-5, 6-7 (5), 7-5, 2-6, 6-1.

The loss extended the 38-year-old Fognini’s losing streak to 10 consecutive tour-level matches, 0-7 in 2025.

Fognini previously said he would retire at the end of the season, but held a news conference at the All England Club to say he was done now. This year’s Wimbledon was the 63rd Grand Slam event for Fognini, whose best result was a quarterfinal finish at the 2011 French Open.

During his career, Fognini won nine ATP Tour singles titles, including his last one at Monte-Carlo in 2019. In the same year, he reached No. 9 in the ATP Rankings, the first man from Italy in the Top 10 since 1979. In doubles, Fognini won eight titles and reached a career-best ranking of No. 7.

“It’s the best way to say goodbye,” said Fognini, who is the husband of 2015 US Open champion Flavia Pennetta. “I did this job for 20 years and I don’t know how to do anything else.”

• Queen Camilla, the wife of King Charles III, sat in the Royal Box at Centre Court to watch the women’s singles quarterfinal match between No. 7 seed Mirra Andreeva of Russia and unseeded Belinda Bencic of Switzerland. Earlier in the day, she visited with All England Club chair Debbie Jevans, as well as lead groundsperson Will Brierley, lead Gardner Robin Murphy, collections manager Malin Lundin and seven-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic.

• The Wimbledon mixed doubles final is set. On Thursday, Joe Salisbury of Great Britain and Luisa Stefani of Brazil will face Sem Verbeek of the Netherlands and Katerina Siniakova of Czechia, in a battle of unseeded mixed teams.

Salisbury and Stefani advanced to the title match with a 7-6 (6), 7-6 (4) win over No. 2 seeds Marcelo Arevalo of El Salvador and Zhang Shuai of China, while Verbeek and Siniakova reached the final with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over No. 8 seeds Mate Pavic of Croatia and Timea Babos of Hungary.

Wednesday’s Wimbledon results

Thursday’s Wimbledon order of play

By the numbers

Since losing to Ben Shelton in at Shanghai in 2023, Jannik Sinner has won 19 consecutive matches against players from the United States.

“Quotable …”

“I did say when the draw was getting made she had a great chance to make the semis, and to then make that next step, we that she can get there. She’s done it before, even before she took that break in her career, with her run at Roland-Garros. It’s not like she can’t content, and I think she’s quietly made inroads on the other Americans.”

– CoCo Vandeweghe, ESPN analyst, speaking about No. 13 seed Amanda Anisimova of the United States, who has advanced to Thursday’s women’s singles semifinals against No. 1 seed Aryna Sabalenka’s, as quoted by the Wimbledon.com website.

 

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