Jul 7, 2025; Wimbledon, United Kingdom; Jannik Sinner (ITA) looks to his player's box between points against Grigor Dimitrov (BUL)(not pictured) on day eight of The Championships Wimbledon 2025 at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.

tennis

Wimbledon 2025 Quarterfinals – What Will Happen if Jannik Sinner Withdraws From His Match Against Ben Shelton?

Sinner suffered an uncomfortable blow to his elbow vs Dimitrov.

World No. 1 Jannik Sinner was rather fortunate to advance into the quarterfinals of the 2025 Wimbledon Championships on Monday. The top seed was down by two sets against Grigor Dimitrov, before a freak pec injury forced the Bulgarian to retire at 2-2 in the third set. As a result, a stunned Sinner booked a meeting with Ben Shelton of the USA. The American overcame Lorenzo Sonego of Italy earlier in the day.

Sinner and Shelton will face one another for the seventh time on Wednesday. The 23-year-old Italian was practically flawless en route to the Round of 16, before Dimitrov caused him all sorts of trouble. On the other hand, the American southpaw endured close straight set victories in his opening three rounds – and dropped his first set of the tournament vs Sonego.

Ahead of their last eight clash, Jannik Sinner is doubtful due to some injury concerns.

Sinner to Undergo MRI Scans for Elbow Injury

With Dimitrov grabbing the eye balls for a terribly unfortunate pec injury, Sinner’s issue went under the radar. The Italian also left Centre Court earlier due to an elbow injury – the severity of which is unknown. The incident took place in the very first game of the encounter, when Sinner fell to the ground and clutched his right arm. He went on to take a medical time-out for the same, and faced troubles on his serve and forehand.

The World No. 1 is set to take some MRI scans, following which he will make a final decision regarding Wednesday’s quarterfinal. Although the extent of the injury is unknown, he is expected to appear for the match as of now. Having recently split with his trainer as well as physio, Sinner will be treated by an ATP Tour physio for the time being.

Jannik Sinner was asked about his elbow injury during the match against Grigor Dimitrov at Wimbledon

“Can you tell us exactly what happened with your elbow on that fall?”

Jannik: “It happened very early in the match. First game. Quite unfortunate fall. Checked the videos a bit.… pic.twitter.com/5QyIiLjVNu
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) July 7, 2025

“It was quite an unfortunate fall,” Sinner said in his post-match press conference. The three-time Grand Slam champion was trailing 3-6 5-7 after two sets before Dimitrov retired amidst tears. “I checked the videos, and it didn’t seem like a tough one. But I still felt it quite a lot, especially [on the] serve and forehand. So let’s see – tomorrow we are going to check how it is, and then we’ll see.”

What Happens if Jannik Sinner Withdraws From Wimbledon 2025?

Provided Sinner is unable to compete in his quarterfinal encounter, Ben Shelton will advance to his maiden Wimbledon semifinal. The 10th seed will receive a walkover, and he will not be required to compete on Centre Court until Friday. Unlike the initial stage where lucky losers fill up vacancies, there will be no replacement if Sinner is unable to appear on Wednesday.

In terms of ranking points, Sinner’s withdrawal will not have too many repercussions for him. The defending US Open and Australian Open champ reached the QF stage at All England Club last year too, meaning that he would nullify the gains and losses in terms of points. On the other hand, Shelton was defeated by Sinner himself in the 2024 Championships Round of 16 – he will make a significant increase to his ranking points.

Jannik Sinner’s withdrawal will also mean that Ben Shelton will advance to play the winner of Novak Djokovic vs Flavio Cobolli in the final four stage. The 22-year-old has a negative head-to-head record (0-1 vs Djokovic, 1-2 vs Cobolli) against both players.

(Image Credits: Geoff Burke, Imagn Images)

ATP

Ben Shelton

Grigor Dimitrov

Jannik Sinner

Novak Djokovic

Tennis

US Open

Wimbledon

Wimbledon 2025

Sankalp Harikrishnan

A passionate sports fan through and through, I am currently pursuing my MA in Global Sports Journalism. I specialise in tennis and football writing at The Playoffs News, and I have prior experience working at EssentiallySports and Sportskeeda. Born and raised in Bengaluru, India, sport was my safe space right from my childhood. After trying my hand at multiple sports and representing my educational institutions in cricket, badminton and table tennis, I found sports media to be my calling.