Jannik Sinner has reached the Wimbledon semi-finals after comfortably dispatching Ben Shelton.
Despite concerns about an elbow injury prior to the match, the Italian world number one was rarely troubled during the contest, winning in straight sets 7-6 6-4 6-4.
Sinner has been fortunate to make it this far at the tournament, after going down two sets to love against Grigor Dimitrov in the fourth round. The Bulgarian was forced to retire in the third set with a pectoral injury.
However, the events of Monday did not seem to faze the Italian star, as he made quick work of an in-form Shelton.
After the match, former British Davis Cup Captain John Lloyd spoke about Sinner’s development into a world-class talent.
John Lloyd says it is ‘almost impossible’ to stay with Jannik Sinner
Speaking on the BBC’s live broadcast on Wednesday evening after Sinner’s Wimbledon quarter-final victory, John Lloyd said: “Jannik Sinner, the way he redirects pace toe-to-toe it’s just almost impossible to stay with him and as much as he tried he [Shelton] just could not break him down and eventually just made too many errors.
“But Sinner will be thrilled with his performance. It was immaculate.”
Lloyd was later asked by co-commentator Andrew Castle whether the men’s singles final is inevitably heading towards a meeting between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.
Lloyd added: “I wouldn’t say necessarily, not if Novak wins that quarter-final, he’s going to be dangerous.
“But the way Sinner played today, it would be a totally different match if he came up against Novak because Novak obviously presents different problems [than Shelton].
“It’s not so much the 140mph serves but it’s obviously the consistency from the baseline, the variety and they sort of almost cancel each other out the way they play toe-to-toe from the baseline and Novak’s such a good mover.
“It’s a different look but the bottom line is when he plays like this, Jannik Sinner, it doesn’t matter who he plays, he feels he can beat anybody.
“He’s the cleanest striker of the ball that’s out there, one of the cleanest strikers of the ball I’ve ever seen, and the way he redirects pace against anybody… and he’s feeling more and more confident, he’s worked on his mobility.
“He did a lot of practice sliding on court so he gets used to that. He is looking so, so solid now and very confident.”
Jannik Sinner becomes the youngest player to reach the semi-finals in four consecutive Grand Slam Men’s Singles events since Rafael Nadal
Following his victory on Wednesday, Jannik Sinner became the youngest player to reach the semi-finals in four consecutive Grand Slam Men’s Singles events since Rafael Nadal in 2009.
Nadal achieved the feat across five consecutive Grand Slam events, from the 2008 Australian Open to the 2009 Australian Open.
Across those five tournaments, Nadal won three of those titles, the 2008 French Open, 2008 Wimbledon and the 2009 Australian Open. He lost to a young Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the semi-finals of the 2008 Australian Open, and 19-year-old Juan Martin del Potro in the 2008 US Open semi-finals.
As for Sinner, he will face either Novak Djokovic or Flavio Cobolli in the semi-final before a potential match against Carlos Alcaraz or Taylor Fritz.
