Ben Shelton has had his Wimbledon dream ended by Jannik Sinner, who won their quarterfinal clash 7-6(7-2), 6-4, 6-4.
Shelton was blown away by Sinner, who now takes on seven-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic in the semifinals.
Italian superstar Sinner is the top seed at the grass court Grand Slam, of which he has never made it to the final.
Shelton meanwhile has never reached a Grand Slam final, and has once again just fallen short thanks to the stunning efforts of the ATP Tour number one.
Sinner quickly shook off any injury fears about his elbow by securing the victory in two hours and 19 minutes on No. 1 Court.
Ben Shelton names the best server on the ATP Tour after Wimbledon exit
Shelton has been told to improve his return following his Wimbledon exit, with the American having alluded to his latest opponent’s stunning serving qualities in his post-match press conference.
He commented after the loss: “I mean, it’s not underrated because the stats show it but his serving is the best on Tour.
“It makes things difficult, my return has improved a lot and I am returning well. But it’s tough against a guy like that.
“You get to 30 and every single time I got to 30 I hardly saw another second serve. I hardly saw two balls after the serve.
“It was just two balls to the spot or the forehand was gone, or there was no forehand. That made things difficult.
“I put myself in position a few times and when I did put myself in position it wasn’t really on my racket. At 15-40 we played four points in a row and it was just too good.
“There was a 0-30 in the fourth set where maybe I had one look but that was it. Overall my return game has improved a lot but in those crucial moments he outplayed me today.”
| Stat | Total | Rank |
| Serve rating | 294.4 | 5 |
| % 1st serve | 60.5% | 55 |
| % 1st serve points won | 78.4% | 5 |
| % 2nd serve points won | 58.8% | 1 |
| % Service games won | 90.6% | 1 |
| Avg. aces/match | 7.7 | 28 |
| Avg. double faults/match | 1.6 | 74 |
What Ben Shelton has ‘no doubt’ about after losing to Jannik Sinner at Wimbledon
While Shelton will likely be feeling disappointed after his Wimbledon dream ended, he can hold his head extremely high after another impressive Grand Slam run.
It comes after his fourth round exit at the 2025 French Open, where he lost to Carlos Alcaraz, having previously fallen to Sinner in the semi-finals of the Australian Open.
His focus now turns to hard court events and ultimately the US Open, with Shelton saying of the surface: “There is no doubt in my mind that I am going back to my favourite surface now and the US summer a better player than I was in March.
“There is no doubt. Athletic ability, movement, ball tolerance, shot selection, feel, finishing at the net, return game.
“It’s like playing on these uncertain surfaces where there are bad bounces or the ball checks off the line, you learn to adjust and I feel like my game has improved a lot. It has got a lot better.
“Fitness is huge in the US summer. That is one of my main focuses before we start in DC. I want to be at my best for the US Open.”
Shelton is certain to be a huge threat on hard courts this season, where he will likely face another reunion with Sinner.
Remarkably, after winning their first-ever meeting, the American has now lost six in a row against the Italian.
Receive exclusive tennis news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
