What percentage is Sinner at?
The grass at Wimbledon never forgets. Not Dimitrov’s tears, not the thunder of Shelton’s serves – and certainly not the deliberate, almost Zen-like gliding of Jannik Sinner. However, the talented skier is concerned about his right elbow. We have to take that into account in our Sinner vs. Shelton tip.
Shelton described his next opponent as a machine in an interview. It was a comparison that the world number one failed to live up to in his round of 16 match against Grigor Dimitrov. We have learned a few lessons from the previous match for our Sinner vs. Shelton prediction.
Jannik Sinner – Statistics & current form
His first three matches all followed the same pattern. Sinner defeated L. Nardi (6-4, 6-3, 6-0), A. Vukic (6-1, 6-1, 6-3) and P. Martinez (6-1, 6-3, 6-1), conceding only 17 games between them – something even Roger Federer (18) failed to achieve during his playing days.
His performance in the round of 16 against G. Dimitrov suddenly took a completely different turn. Sinner made uncharacteristic mistakes, had a negative ratio of winners (19) to unforced errors (21) and was 0-2 down in sets. Then came the saddest moment of his Wimbledon campaign so far. Dimitrov went down injured, clutching his chest, and retired for the fifth time in a row at a Grand Slam tournament due to injury.
The world number one did not emerge unscathed from this match, even if he was somewhat fortunate to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the fourth time in a row. The South Tyrolean injured his right elbow in the very first game and even had to receive treatment. An MRI is planned, as is his continuation in the tournament.
Will Sinner clear up the question marks?
So far, the world number one has three Grand Slam trophies in his cabinet. Sinner has already collected 19 titles on the tour. His role as favorite in the Sinner – Shelton odds is therefore well deserved. However, the South Tyrolean has only won two of his 19 titles on natural grass – the rest on hard courts.
At least the 23-year-old is no longer without a title on grass. He changed that last year when he won the tournament in Halle. This season, however, he failed to defend his title, losing in the second round to eventual winner Alexander Bublik (1-2).
After advancing against Dimitrov, he himself stated that he did not consider this match a victory. Either way, his record at the classic grass court tournament in London is remarkable (17-4). In addition, his performances in the first rounds showed that the 19-time tour title winner has improved his game on grass.
Ben Shelton – Statistics & current form
The only question is whether that’s enough to compare him to Ben Shelton. The American has been one of the ten best players in the world since last month and is a man for the big stage. The well-trained US boy wins 64 percent of his matches on tour.
His record is even stronger in major tournaments. The world number ten has already reached the second week of all four Grand Slam tournaments and has won 73 percent of his Grand Slam matches. Only Djokovic, Alcaraz, Sinner, and Zverev can boast better statistics.
The left-hander is playing his first Wimbledon quarterfinal against the world number one. From the perspective of the bookmakers and their odds, the tournament will end for the US boy just like last year against the South Tyrolean (0:3).
Shelton needs his first serve
In his four previous matches, Shelton lost only one set. Against L. Sonego, the US boy lost the first set in the round of 16, but went on to win the remaining three sets. In the third set, the world number ten won the only tiebreak of the match.
Three of Shelton’s four previous matches have included at least one tiebreak. His first-round match against A. Bolt (6-4, 7-6, 7-6) even offered the crowd two decisive tiebreaks. Overall, the 22-year-old has played four tiebreaks in as many matches and won every single one of them.
His negative record against the world number one (1-5) does not deter us from betting on a thrilling match in our Sinner vs. Shelton prediction. In addition, the confident left-hander sees the longer duration of a best-of-five match as an advantage.
Jannik Sinner – Ben Shelton Head-to-head record / H2H record
Sinner leads the head-to-head comparison quite comfortably (5:1) and has won all of the last twelve sets. However, another statistic is relevant for our Sinner vs. Shelton prediction. Every single match between the two top 10 players has included at least one tiebreak (6 in total).
Jannik Sinner – Ben Shelton prediction
Sinner’s round of 16 match against Dimitrov showed that the South Tyrolean can certainly get into trouble. His injured elbow brings a certain amount of variance into play, which we want to take into account without attaching too much importance to it.
The three-time Grand Slam champion is certainly the favorite, but Shelton’s preference for the big stage could add some extra spice to the match. We are going for “Over 1.5 tiebreaks in the match” in our Sinner vs. Shelton tip.
