Jannik Sinner’s elbow passes the test as top seed swats aside Ben Shelton

By Andy Sims, PA

Jannik Sinner stepped on to Centre Court not knowing if his injured elbow would hold up to facing Ben Shelton.

It turns out the top seed need not have worried as he dismantled Shelton in straight sets to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals, where he will face seven-time champion Novak Djokovic.

World number one Sinner, wearing a protective sleeve on his racket arm, was still at his clinical best as he ran out a 7-6 (2) 6-4 6-4 winner.

He had cancelled a scheduled hour-long practice session on Tuesday after bashing his elbow in a fall during his dramatic fourth-round match against Grigor Dimitrov.

The problem had badly affected his serve on Monday night, with Dimitrov looking set to knock the Italian out until he was struck down by injury.

“Yesterday I played 20 minutes without serving and not hitting 100 per cent,” he said.

“But in another way, I always try to put myself in the position at least to go out there and try. I had quite good feelings in the warm-up today.

“So I felt also yesterday that mentally I have to get ready. I put into my mind that I’m going to play today.

“So the concerns were not that big if I would play or not. It was just a matter of what my percentage is. Today was very high, so I’m happy.”

Any concerns that the injury would hinder him against Shelton were dispelled during a first set in which he dropped just one point in six service games.

American 10th seed Shelton, meanwhile, was regularly sending down serves in excess of 140mph as the set thundered towards a tie-break.

In moving one set ahead, Sinner had incredibly made just one unforced error in 50 minutes of blistering tennis.

He warded off a couple of break points at the start of the second, and then at 5-4 he clinched the first break of the match to go two sets up.

The third set stayed on serve until 5-4 again, when Shelton saved a first match point with a powerful forehand and a second with a 140mph ace.

But a double-fault gave Sinner a third opportunity and this time he took it, completing his victory in two hours and 19 minutes.

The 23-year-old revealed he had invested in a new pair of shoes to try and prevent another slip on the grass.

“I played with completely new shoes to have more grip,” he added. “I haven’t even practised. They were completely new, which usually on other surfaces I don’t do.

“Of course, on grass the main priority is to have lots of grip. So yeah, have to get used to it.”