Djokovic, Swiatek eye Wimbledon last four as Sinner faces injury worry

Straits Times

08-07-2025

FILE PHOTO: Tennis - Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - July 7, 2025 Serbia's Novak Djokovic in action during his round of 16 match against Australia's Alex de Minaur REUTERS/Andrew Couldridge/File Photo
Novak Djokovic continues his quest for a record 25th Grand Slam title against Flavio Cobolli and Poland's Iga Swiatek looks to get past Liudmila Samsonova, while Jannik Sinner battles an injury going into the quarter-finals at Wimbledon.
TOP MEN'S MATCH: FLAVIO COBOLLI V NOVAK DJOKOVIC
Djokovic's pursuit of a 25th major has been the tale of a climber repeatedly falling just feet from the summit, with the Serbian knocked out in three semi-finals and losing to Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final for the second year in a row.
The 38-year-old was struggling against a young contender yet again in the last 16 as he lost the first set to Australian Alex de Minaur, making double-faults and hitting errant forehands. But he fought back to win the next three sets.
"He was exposing my game, exposing my weaknesses," Djokovic said of De Minaur. "I went into kind of full lock-in mode ... I finally was able to kind of do what I wanted to do and swing through the ball."
Despite the confidence-boosting win over a difficult opponent like De Minaur, Djokovic sounded cautious about facing 22nd seed Flavio Cobolli in the last eight, saying he was "pleasantly surprised" to see the Italian make it this far in the tournament.
"He doesn't strike me as a grasscourt specialist with his game, but he reached the quarter-finals," Djokovic said of the 23-year-old, who has reached the last eight of a Grand Slam for the first time.
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'He's beaten (Marin) Cilic and some big servers and big players that are grasscourt specialists, so to say. So huge credit to him. He's a big fighter."
Cobolli, who has won only two claycourt titles on the ATP tour, has surprised many with his improvement on grass as he discovers how high he can climb, putting the 38-year-old Djokovic at risk of yet another fall from close to the peak.
TOP WOMEN'S MATCH: IGA SWIATEK V LIUDMILA SAMSONOVA
Swiatek, known as the 'Queen of Clay' due to her success on the surface, has a new-found love for grasscourts after reaching the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the second time in her career.
The five-times Grand Slam winner looked like a natural as she brushed aside her last two opponents as the eighth-seeded Pole aims to win her first title on the surface.
"I feel like I'm doing a great job at just learning how to play on grass. First time I feel, like, more comfortable. I feel like the process has some kind of logic," said Swiatek, who reached her maiden grasscourt final last month at the Bad Homburg Open.
"It's tough when the expectations are high and people talk to you like you're underperforming. I guess this year is just different."
The 24-year-old was confident ahead of facing Russian 19th seed Samsonova in the last eight, having won all four of their previous meetings. But the two have never before met on grass.
"She's a player that likes fast surfaces," Swiatek said of Samsonova, who has won two grasscourt titles on the tour.
"She's pretty experienced too so it's going to be a challenge. I'll just prepare the same way as before any other match and I'll be ready."
SINNER FACES HIGH-FLYING SHELTON AT A LOW POINT
Top seed Jannik Sinner was two sets down when his last-16 opponent Grigor Dimitrov retired due to a pectoral injury, but the walkover win was no comfort for the top seed, who also suffered an elbow injury during a fall early in the match.
"I don't take this as a win at all," Sinner said after the match, adding that he would have an MRI scan later to check his elbow injury. "It didn't seem a tough one, but I still felt (the injury) quite a lot, especially (during) serve and forehand."
For American Ben Shelton, who has lost the last five times he has met Sinner, this may be a golden opportunity to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals for the first time.
Tenth seed Shelton, a crowd favourite, said Sinner is "like a machine" but the 22-year-old was ready for a long battle.
'When I get to the big tournaments, I'm more confident about getting in the second week and having deep runs because I've done it a lot,' he said.
WIMBLEDON ORDER OF PLAY ON WEDNESDAY (prefix number denotes seeding)
Centre Court (Play begins 1230 GMT)
7-Mirra Andreeva (Russia) v Belinda Bencic (Switzerland)
22-Flavio Cobolli (Italy) v 6-Novak Djokovic (Serbia)
Court Number One (Play begins 1200 GMT)
8-Iga Swiatek (Poland) v 19-Liudmila Samsonova (Russia)
1-Jannik Sinner (Italy) v 10-Ben Shelton (U.S.) REUTERS