Djokovic to face Sinner in tantalising semi-final

Wimbledon 2025

Dates: 30 June-13 July Venue: All England Club

Coverage: Live across BBC TV, radio and online with extensive coverage on BBC iPlayer, Red Button, Connected TVs and mobile app. Full coverage guide.

Novak Djokovic set up a mouth-watering Wimbledon semi-final against world number one Jannik Sinner after coming through a tricky encounter against Flavio Cobolli.

Seven-time champion Djokovic manoeuvred past Italian 22nd seed Cobolli 6-7 (6-8) 6-2 7-5 6-4 to reach a 14th semi-final at SW19.

It came after Italy's Sinner put aside any discomfort from an elbow injury to beat American 10th seed Ben Shelton 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 6-4.

Djokovic, bidding for a standalone record 25th Grand Slam title, overcame a few wobbles to beat Cobolli and book the last-four meeting many had hoped for when the draw was made.

It will be the second time Djokovic and Sinner have met in a major semi-final this year, with Sinner coming through in straight sets at the French Open in June.

Three-time major champion Sinner, who wore a sleeve to protect his right elbow after suffering a falling in his fourth-round match on Monday, has won the past four matches against Djokovic.

But Djokovic will back himself on grass against Sinner, having won both of their meetings at Wimbledon.

"I'm very happy with this performance," said Sinner, who has reached at least the semi-finals in the past four majors.

"When you are in a match with a lot of tension you try not to think about [any pain]. It has improved a lot from yesterday to today.

"It is no excuse. There is no better stage to play tennis and I showed this today."

Sinner has been the dominant men's player for the past 18 months and this performance – when he was not 100% fit - was another example of why.

A below-par display against Dimitrov went unpunished when the luckless Bulgarian popped a pectoral muscle in the third set.

If it felt like Sinner had been given a lifeline, he certainly made the most of it against Shelton.

Sinner's serve speed dropped against Dimitrov because of his injury, but it was back up to 125mph – more in tune with his tournament average – and the added pace combined with his precision spelt trouble for Shelton.

The huge-serving American, who has become a fan favourite at the All England Club over the past fortnight, won only one receiving point before the opening-set tie-break.

Then, in the tie-break, he was lured into Sinner's trap.

Unsuccessfully going for broke, the under-pressure Shelton lamped aggressive groundstrokes in a bid to break down Sinner.

Neither player created a break point in the opening set, but Shelton earned two immediately in the second thanks to improvements in his return game.

While he could not take either, Shelton earned another half chance at 4-3 with more pressure being particularly applied on Sinner's second serve.

But Sinner survived and turned the tables on Shelton in the very next game. Shelton continued to hammer down serves at more than 140mph but was still broken after Sinner soaked up the pace and turned defence into attack with his relentless returning.

It was a similar pattern in the third set. Both players continued to dominate service games before Sinner upped the ante again with a decisive break as Shelton served to stay in the match.