Sinner puts aside injury concern to reach semis

Italian top seed Jannik Sinner did not let an elbow injury hamper his performance as he beat American opponent Ben Shelton to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals.

Sinner, 23, who wore a sleeve on his right elbow, occasionally shook out his arm in a 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 6-4 victory but the injury did not hold him back.

The three-time Grand Slam champion had hurt himself after falling in the early part of Monday's fourth-round match against Grigor Dimitrov, who led by two sets before retiring injured himself.

Sinner made the most of his reprieve with a dominant display against American 10th seed Shelton, who saved two match points on his own serve before succumbing to the third.

"I'm very happy with this performance," said Sinner, who has reached at least the semi-finals in the past four majors.

"When you are in a match with a lot of tension you try not to think about [any pain]. It has improved a lot from yesterday to today.

"It is no excuse. There is no better stage to play tennis and I showed this today."

Sinner's serve speed returned towards its normal pace and he was not broken, while his returning game was crisp and clinical.

To reach his first Wimbledon final, the world number one will have to beat 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic or Italian 22nd seed Flavio Cobolli in Friday's semi-final.

Sinner has been the dominant men's player for the past 18 months and this performance – when he was not 100% fit - was another example of why.

A below-par display against Dimitrov went unpunished when the luckless Bulgarian popped a pectoral muscle in the third set.

If it felt like Sinner had been given a lifeline, he certainly made the most of it against Shelton.

Sinner's serve speed dropped against Dimitrov because of his injury, but it was back up to 125mph – more in tune with his tournament average – and the added pace combined with his precision spelt trouble for Shelton.

The huge-serving American, who has become a fan favourite at the All England Club over the past fortnight, won only one receiving point before the opening-set tie-break.

Then, in the tie-break, he was lured into Sinner's trap.

Unsuccessfully going for broke, the under-pressure Shelton lamped aggressive groundstrokes in a bid to break down Sinner.

Neither player created a break point in the opening set, but Shelton earned two immediately in the second thanks to improvements in his return game.

While he could not take either, Shelton earned another half chance at 4-3 with more pressure being particularly applied on Sinner's second serve.

But Sinner survived and turned the tables on Shelton in the very next game. Shelton continued to hammer down serves at more than 140mph but was still broken after Sinner soaked up the pace and turned defence into attack with his relentless returning.

It was a similar pattern in the third set. Both players continued to dominate service games before Sinner upped the ante again with a decisive break as Shelton served to stay in the match.