Jannik Sinner’s road to the Wimbledon quarter-finals has been anything but smooth. The world No. 1 will step onto the court for his match against Ben Shelton, but there’s a big question mark hanging over whether he’ll be able to finish it.
The Italian’s journey to this stage was pretty remarkable at first.
Sinner actually broke Roger Federer’s record for the fewest games lost on his way to the fourth round. That’s the kind of stat that gets tennis fans really excited.
| Name | Age | Points | Stats 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jannik Sinner | 24 | 15,405 | 33 - 3 |
But then things got complicated in his fourth-round match against Grigor Dimitrov.
Right at the start of that match, Sinner hurt his right elbow. That wasn’t the only problem though – Dimitrov was playing some seriously good tennis. The Bulgarian took control, winning the first two sets 6-3, 7-5, and was holding his own at 2-2 in the third.
Then disaster struck.
Dimitrov injured himself and had to retire from the match. It was one of those moments that just breaks your heart as a tennis fan. Even Sinner looked genuinely upset about how it happened.
"I don’t take this as a win at all. This is just a very unfortunate moment to witness for all of us."
That’s not exactly what you’d expect to hear from someone who just made it to a Grand Slam quarter-final.
Sinner said he’d get an MRI on Tuesday to check out that elbow injury. The early signs weren’t looking great – he ended up canceling his scheduled practice session, which is never a good sign for a top player.
His coach Darren Cahill gave ESPN an update that showed just how uncertain things were.
"No news on the MRI just yet. He had it earlier today, and he can’t take a day off, so he wanted to touch the ball… So Simone and myself just fed him a few balls out of the basket."
They weren’t even doing a real practice session. Just feeding him some easy balls indoors.
Cahill tried to put a positive spin on the indoor practice, explaining it’s actually not unusual for them.
"It’s not a bad thing sometimes [to practise on hard court]. The more you play on grass with the uneven bounces, the more your timing goes off… Agassi used to do it all the time."
Heavy Strapping Tells the Story
When Sinner finally showed up for practice on Wednesday, everyone got their answer about his condition. Well, sort of.
The three-time Grand Slam champion was out there warming up, but his right arm was heavily strapped. We’re talking about a protective sleeve with another layer of heavy strapping underneath it.
That’s the kind of wrapping you see when someone’s really trying to hold things together.
It’s a tricky situation for any player, but especially for someone like Sinner who’s had such an incredible year. He’s the world No. 1 for a reason, and you don’t get there by pulling out of big matches easily.
The reality is that elbow injuries in tennis can be unpredictable. One moment you’re feeling okay, the next you’re in serious pain. That’s what makes his quarter-final against Shelton so uncertain.
Will he start the match? Almost certainly.
Will he finish it? That’s anyone’s guess right now.
