Jannik Sinner
On Sunday at Wimbledon, Jannik Sinner certainly had the appearance of the top player in the PIF ATP Rankings.
The Italian defeated Ben Shelton, the 14th seed, 6-2, 6-4, 7-6(9), to go to The Championships quarterfinals for the third year in a row. The 22-year-old became the first Italian guy in history to qualify for three consecutive final eights at Wimbledon.
In his first two matches, which were both four-setters, Sinner had to put in a lot of effort, particularly in a thrilling second-round battle against fellow countryman Matteo Berrettini, who forced him to a fourth-set tie-break. In the two matches since, he has not dropped a set.
Shelton, who enjoys taking on the best players on the biggest stages, required the top seed to be at the peak of his game. The Italian was upset by the American in a tie-break final set in October of last year. With his thunderous serve on the No. 1 Court turf, Shelton may pose a challenge to the Australian Open champion this year, and that wasn’t entirely unreasonable.
Sinner, however, mostly neutralised Shelton’s serve. In the two hours and eight minutes of play, the 14th seed only won 70% of his first-serve points and dropped four service games.
Rain forced Shelton to play every day of the event, and he played the allotted 15 sets in three matches before the match. Critically, Sinner was able to outplay his opponent well behind the baseline in numerous rallies and win rallies of zero to four strokes by an 81-62 margin.
When Shelton dictates his serve and commands the action, he performs at his peak. However, Sinner, who is now 42-3 for the year, did a good job of setting the terms for the game.
As the match progressed, Shelton, 21, battled his way through to the fourth round match and broke the Italian early in the third set.
Sinner electrified the fans at 4-5, 40/30 in the third set with an improvised forward-facing tweener half-volley following a flawless return from Shelton, after regaining the break. Both players could not help but smile when the Italian eventually won the point with a forehand passing attempt.
“That was pure serendipity! Nothing to say, really. I’m not sure. Occasionally… I just don’t know what to say.
Shelton was unable to maintain his aspirations of making it to his first Wimbledon quarterfinal, after earning three set points in the third-set tie-break. The greatest opportunity for the former University of Florida standout came at 6/5 when he attempted an inside-out forehand but missed wide.
Sinner, who now has a 3-1 advantage over Shelton in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series, will face either Daniil Medvedev, ranked fifth, or Grigor Dimitrov, ranked tenth, in the quarterfinals.
