On Wednesday, Jannik Sinner defeated Ben Shelton 7-6, 6-4, 6-4 to secure his spot in the Wimbledon semifinals, where he will face none other than Novak Djokovic. In that context, the World No. 1 reflected on the place the English tournament holds for him within the global tennis scene.
“Wimbledon is the most special tournament we have throughout the calendar,” Sinner said at the press conference following his win over Shelton, according to the official website of the ATP Tour. “Being here again at the last four means a lot to me… Obviously it feels amazing.”
That Jannik places Wimbledon at the top of the tennis world is particularly meaningful, considering it is the Grand Slam event where he has historically achieved the fewest results. He has never been champion there, and it remains the only major tournament where he hasn’t reached the final.
This year’s semifinal appearance matches his best performance, which came in 2023. That year, he lost to Novak Djokovic, who, coincidentally, will be his opponent again this year at the same stage. Sinner now has the opportunity to take revenge and reach the final on English grass for the first time.
Sinner overcame physical issues
The straight-sets win over Shelton carries added weight for Sinner, considering the physical issues he had faced. During his fourth-round match against Grigor Dimitrov, the Italian star suffered discomfort in his right arm, which kept him from training normally in the following days.
“Yesterday my day was very short on the practice court, 20 minutes with the coaches only. But I was looking forward to the match,” Jannik explained. “This is no excuse. There is no better stage to play tennis, and I think I showed this today… I’m very, very happy about today’s performance.”
Sinner aims for first Wimbledon final
On Friday, Sinner and Djokovic will face off for a spot in the final. For both, the match will carry a very different significance: while Jannik is trying to reach the championship match for the first time in his career, Novak is aiming to tie Roger Federer as the player with the most titles on English grass in history (8).
“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 said about Djokovic. “Hopefully it’s going to be a good match.”
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