Credit: X
The round of 16 match at Wimbledon between Jannik Sinner and Grigor Dimitrov resulted in the latter being forced to retire from the match with an injured pectoral muscle two days ago. But, in the match, Sinner’s own fitness did not go unnoticed. During the first game of the fourth-round match, Sinner looked poised for an unexpected defeat after he jarred his elbow during a seemingly harmless slide to the ground. The Italian took a medical timeout midway through the second set due to the apparent elbow discomfort. The world No. 1 also underwent an MRI on the elbow afterwards.
Sinner’s injury concern grew ahead of his quarter-final match against Ben Shelton when he was seen practicing wearing a compression sleeve to protect his right-arm earlier on Wedneday, July 9. According to the reports, he practiced for around one hour with Italian player Jacopo Vasami. Sinner specifically chose to train with him because he is a left-hander, a southpaw just like Ben Shelton. Reportedly, he cancelled his training session yesterday, which raised eyebrows amid speculations regarding his fitness for the quarter-finals match at Wimbledon.
Nothing out of the ordinary: Jannik Sinner’s coach while downplaying fitness concerns
In an interview with ESPN, Jannik Sinner's coach Darren Cahill downplayed the concerns and said there was “nothing out of the ordinary” about his condition. Coach Cahill further added, “He had (the MRI) earlier today and he can’t take a day off. So he wanted to touch the ball, so Simone and I just fed him a few balls out of the basket.” Sinner is expected to take the court against American Ben Shelton in the quarter-final contest at Court No. 1 on Wednesday, July 9. The 23-year-old, who slipped in the opening game of his fourth-round match against Grigor Dimitrov, used his right hand to stall the fall and appeared to have hurt his elbow in the process.
World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz became the first player to reach the semi-finals after beating Britain’s Cameron Norrie 6-2, 6-3, 6-3. In the post-match conference he said, “To be able to play another semi-final here at Wimbledon is really special.” He will face Taylor Fritz in the semi-final clash, who survived a major scare in his quarter-final match against Karen Khachanov. The winner of the game that is to be played between Sinner and Shelton will go on to face either 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic or Flavio Cobolli in the semi-finals.
