Sinner felt Wimbledon bid was in doubt after elbow injury / Photo: HENRY NICHOLLS - AFP
Sinner felt Wimbledon bid was in doubt after elbow injury
Jannik Sinner admitted he didn't know if his injured elbow would survive the strain of his Wimbledon quarter-final victory against Ben Shelton on Wednesday.
Sinner wore a protective sleeve on his right arm after suffering the elbow problem in an awkward fall during his last-16 match against Grigor Dimitrov.
The Italian world number one looked in discomfort at times in the Court One clash with Shelton, but he battled through to the Wimbledon semi-finals for the second time.
The 23-year-old beat the American 10th seed 7-6 (7/2), 6-4, 6-4 and will face seven-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic in a blockbuster semi-final on Friday.
It was a relief to the three-time Grand Slam champion to make it through after he had cancelled a scheduled practice session on Tuesday to go for an MRI scan on his elbow.
"Yesterday I played 20 minutes without serving and not hitting 100 percent," he said.
"But in another way, I always try to put myself in the position at least to go out there and try. 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. Today was very high, so I'm happy."
Any concerns that the injury would hinder Sinner were dispelled during a first set in which he dropped just one point in six service games.
Sinner needed just two hours and 19 minutes to dispatch Shelton as he stepped up his bid for a fourth successive Grand Slam final appearance.
The top seed revealed he had invested in a new pair of shoes to try and prevent another slip on the grass.
"I played with completely new shoes to have more grip," he said. "I haven't even practised. They were completely new, which usually on other surfaces I don't do.
"Of course, on grass the main priority is to have lots of grip. So yeah, have to get used to it."
Sinner will be facing Djokovic for the ninth time and he holds a 5-4 edge over the 24-time Grand Slam champion.
He won in straight sets in the French Open semi-finals recently, although Djokovic has won their two meetings on grass at Wimbledon in 2022 and 2023.
"Me and Novak, we know each other better because we played quite a lot. So we understand what's working and what's not," he said.
"But yeah, I've never won against him here in Wimbledon, so it's going to be a very, very tough challenge."
P.Smid--RTC
