The top half of the Wimbledon men’s draw held firm on Wednesday, as Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic both booked their places in the semi-final, though not without some questions.
Sinner, who fluked his way into the last eight, showed no signs of discomfort as he dispatched Ben Shelton in straight sets, extending his head-to-head to 6–1 against the American. It was a clean, composed performance from the world No. 1, who was barely threatened across the two-hour encounter.
Djokovic’s path was trickier. The seven-time champion dropped the opening set to Flavio Cobolli but slowly asserted control, overcoming a scrappy performance and a brief slip on match point to secure his record 14th Wimbledon semi-final berth. Cobolli showed flashes of brilliance, but ultimately lacked the composure needed in the big moments.
Friday’s semi-final between Sinner and Djokovic is now set, and if Novak isn’t hurt from his slip on match point, it could be the showdown this year’s tournament has been building toward.
Here’s how Day Ten unfolded at SW19.
Day Ten Wimbledon 2025 Quarter Final Results
| Winner | Loser | Scoreline |
|---|---|---|
| Jannik Sinner (1) | Ben Shelton (10) | 7-6(2) 6-4 6-4 |
| Novak Djokovic (6) | Flavio Cobollio (22) | 6-7(8) 6-2 7-5 6-4 |
Sinner Sinks Shelton
Jannik Sinner silenced concerns over a pre-match elbow injury with a commanding performance on Wednesday, defeating Ben Shelton 7-6(2), 6-4, 6-4 to reach his second Wimbledon semi-final.
To stand a chance, I thought Shelton needed a Sampras-like performance – serve great and then go for broke on the returns and hope a window of opportunity presents itself.
He just about managed the first part, but his return was lacklustre, winning just two points on return in the entire first set.
The two breakpoints he managed to create occurred in the opening game of set two, but he was unable to convert.
Sinner proved to be solid thereafter, as he’s not going to be out-rallyed by Shelton in a million years. Hence why he has won six straight meetings against the American, dropping no sets in any of them.
I thought Shelton played okay, and I like how he opted to go big on his serve a lot of the time rather than kick it in, as his average speeds on 1st and 2nd were well up on his previous matches at Wimbledon. But from the ground, he wasn’t able to produce the type of shots required.
I’m very, very happy about today’s performance/ Playing against him is so difficult. You have chances and then he serves very well, as we saw in the last game. Overall, we play each other more and more, we got to know each other a little bit better, and I’m looking forward to these kinds of battles. Sinner on his win.
Match Stats
| Jannik Sinner | Ben Shelton | |
|---|---|---|
| Winners | 33 | 29 |
| Unforced Errors | 17 | 38 |
| Aces | 7 | 14 |
| Double Faults | 1 | 6 |
| 1st Serve % | 65% (56/86) | 60% (60/100) |
| 1st Serve Points Won | 89% (50/56) | 80% (48/60) |
| 2nd Serve Points Won | 67% (20/30) | 41% (17/41) |
| Break Points Saved | 100% (2/2) | 80% (4/5) |
| Service Games | 100% (16/16) | 93% (14/15) |
| 1st Return Points Won | 20% (12/60) | 11% (6/56) |
| 2nd Return Points Won | 59% (24/41) | 33% (10/30) |
| Break Points Won | 20% (1/5) | 0% (0/2) |
| Return Games | 7% (1/15) | 0% (0/16) |
| Pressure Points | 43% (3/7) | 57% (4/7) |
| Service Points | 81% (70/86) | 65% (65/100) |
| Return Points | 35% (35/100) | 19% (16/86) |
| Net Points | 86% (19/22) | 75% (18/24) |
| Total Points | 56% (105/186) | 44% (81/186) |
| Match Points Saved | 0 | 2 |
| Max Points In A Row | 7 | 5 |
| Total Games | 55% (17/31) | 45% (14/31) |
| Max Games In A Row | 3 | 1 |
Highlights
Djokovic Conquers Cobolli
Novak Djokovic navigated a tricky encounter on Wednesday, overcoming 22nd seed Flavio Cobolli 6-7(6), 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 to reach a record 14th semi-final at The Championships.
The seven-time champion, trailing after a first-set loss as he did against Alex de Minaur, managed to subdue the Italian’s athleticism in a 3-hour, 11-minute battle on Centre Court.
Djokovic started solidly enough, but faltered when serving for the first set at 5-3. Cobolli then recovered from 2/5 down in the tiebreak, saving a set point 5/6 with a forehand pass, and clinched the set with an unreturned serve.
Djokovic responded in the second, dominating with a high first-serve percentage and sharper baseline play, cutting errors to level the match in about 35 minutes.
The third saw Cobolli rally from a break down to 5-5 with a 20-minute burst of brilliance, but a loose game handed Djokovic the set.
In the fourth, Djokovic broke in the ninth game as Cobolli netted a forehand volley, allowing the Serbian to serve it out. It wasn’t straightforward, as he slipped on the baseline during his second match point, but he regained his footing to seal the victory.
From the replays, that looked nasty, and I thought he already seemed quite leggy in the fourth, often stretching out at change of ends, so it’s going to be interesting to see what happens over the next 24 hours.
As for Cobolli, he showed he’s got plenty of game and hits super hard on both wings. It was, however, a dreadful miss on break point at 4-4 in the fourth. I’m not sure what Cobolli was trying to do; it almost looked like he wanted to miss it.
A huge congratulations to Flavio for an amazing tournament. I played him once last year on hard courts, and we have hit together quite a bit on different surfaces, but we had never played on grass. I had seen him play here and knew he was playing well. It is always different practising from playing in an official match. He played at a really high level. I think what surprised me a lot was his serve. He served at a really fast pace and was going for his shots. He is such a talented and skillful player and one of the guys we will be seeing in the future. Well I finished the match. It was a nasty slip but that is what happens when you play on the grass. I think I hadn’t fallen so far this year. It is a bit surprising because the way I move on the grass, a lot of sliding, aggressive movement, you are expected to fall and have this kind of situation. It did come at an awkward moment but I managed to find a good serve and close it out. I am going to visit this subject now with my physio. Djokovic on his win and fall.
Match Stats
| Flavio Cobolli | Novak Djokovic | |
|---|---|---|
| Winners | 51 | 39 |
| Unforced Errors | 44 | 22 |
| Aces | 13 | 13 |
| Double Faults | 4 | 2 |
| 1st Serve % | 65 0/0 (93/142) | 70 0/0 (81/116) |
| 1st Serve Points Won | 71 0/0 (66/93) | 75 0/0 (61/81) |
| 2nd Serve Points Won | 37% (19/52) | 69% (24/35) |
| Break Points Saved | 50% (6/12) | 0% (0/2) |
| Service Games | 71 0/0 (15/21) | 90 0/0 (19/21) |
| 1st Return Points Won | 25% (20/81) | 29 0/0 (27/93) |
| 2nd Return Points Won | 31 0/0 (11/35) | 63 0/0 (33/52) |
| Break Points Won | 100% (2/2) | 50% (6/12) |
| Return Games | 10 0/0 (2/21) | 29 0/0 (6/21) |
| Pressure Points | 57 0/0 (8/14) | 43% (6/14) |
| Service Points | 60 0/0 (85/142) | 73% (85/116) |
| Return Points | 27 0/0 (31/116) | 40% (57/142) |
| Net Points | 56 0/0 (14/25) | 67 0/0 (24/36) |
| Total Points | 45% (116/258) | 55% (142/258) |
| Match Points Saved | 2 | 0 |
| Max Points ln A Row | 7 | 11 |
| Total Games | 40% (17/42) | 60 0/0 (25/42) |
| Max Games ln A Row | 3 | 7 |
Highlights
Wimbledon 2025 Day Twelve Semi-Final Matches
- Jannik Sinner (1) vs Novak Djokovic (6)
- Taylor Fritz (5) vs Carlos Alcaraz (2)
