LONDON — World No. 1 Jannik Sinner advanced to his third consecutive Wimbledon quarterfinals on Sunday, fending off the challenge of 14th-seeded powerhouse Ben Shelton 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (9).
With this win, Sinner has reached at least the quarterfinals in every tournament he has played in this year and improved his impressive win-loss record to 42-3.
Shelton, a rocket on the slippery grass at this year’s Grand Slams, started the attack with serve and volley on Court 1 and applied early pressure in an attempt to upset the Australian Open champion.
But Sinner responded, breaking the feisty American twice to comfortably take the opening set.
“I’m happy with the comeback today, I think that was definitely one of the keys,” Sinner said.
“I feel like I’m just trying to give it my all in each game, in the key moments of each match, and I feel like sometimes that can make the difference.”
“Obviously, it takes courage to take certain shots and I push myself to do that. Sometimes you miss shots but sometimes it’s the right decision.”
The Italian consolidated the break with a powerful ace early in the second set to take a two-set lead, while Shelton, who had trailed in each of his previous three rounds, found himself struggling again.
The 21-year-old Sinner got the fans excited by taking a comfortable 4-1 lead in the third set, but he overpowered his opponent with power and precision to tie the score in the eighth game.
Sinner then delighted the crowd, which included the “Kalota Boys” traveling fan group, with a superb forward tweener half-volley to make the score 5-5.
“I’m not the kind of guy that does a lot of trick shots,” Sinner said, “but in this case it was still the easiest shot. I didn’t have the space to move to the right or left. It was a lucky shot.”
He then saved a break point to force a tiebreak, but Shelton fought back but wasted four set points to give Sinner the win.
Sinner will next face fifth-seeded Russian Daniil Medvedev in a rematch of the five-set title match at Melbourne Park.
Medvedev won the first six of their 11 meetings before Sinner turned the tide, but the 22-year-old said he expected a tough fight.
“I still think every game has its own story. In Australia we had two different games in one match. It will be a tough game for us,” Sinner said.
“I trained with him earlier this week and he played really well, so it’s going to be a tough match. I’m looking forward to it. It’s a big challenge for me.”
“But this is what I’ve been practicing for. I’m hoping for a good match.”
