Wimbledon recap: Ben Shelton’s Grand Slam wall and Novak Djokovic’s slip

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Welcome to the Wimbledon briefing, where The Athletic will explain the stories behind the stories on each day of the tournament.

On day 10, the quarterfinals wrapped up. Here’s how it went down.

Ben Shelton’s familiar wall

There are only two players who have been able to knock Ben Shelton out of Grand Slams this year: Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.

That’s good news and bad for Shelton, who exited Wimbledon in the quarterfinals this afternoon as Sinner sent him home, 7-6(2), 6-4, 6-4.

Forgive Shelton for his sense of déja vu. He has entered Grand Slam Groundhog Day.

The 22-year-old flamethrower lights up the grounds in week one. He thrills crowds with those blasted 145-mile-per-hour serves and an athleticism that allows him to throw his body across the court and come up with highlight-reel material match after match.

Shelton thrives in the heat and pressure of the four majors in ways he rarely does in a regular tour event, even the more important ones.

He walks onto the court with one of the two otherworldly talents of his generation, pushes them around for a set and gets to a tiebreak.  Then, everything that took him there disappears just when he needs it most.

The pressure Sinner and Alcaraz put on their opponents to be perfect is relentless, but Shelton knows he can hurt them. Doing it for three out of five sets is his next challenge, and figuring it out might be the work of his tennis life.

Next for Sinner is Novak Djokovic, a player who was to him in his early days as Sinner is to Shelton now: an obstacle to the biggest prizes in tennis. Sinner has beaten Djokovic in their last four meetings. If that doesn’t give Shelton hope, little will.

Matt Futterman

Iga Świątek’s ‘bad’ season

Iga Świątek extended the best grass-court form of her career today, beating No. 19 seed Liudmila Samsonova 6-2, 7-5 to reach the Wimbledon semifinals for the first time.

Świątek, the No. 8 seed who is sometimes simplified into a caricature of a clay specialist whose game doesn’t match up to grass, has dismantled that already unstable narrative the past fortnight.

She has played with a clarity of purpose that’s often been missing at Wimbledon. Rather than overhitting in tight moments, Świątek has used the patience and variety that first took her to the top of the sport.

She kept her composure in the face of a late charge from Samsonova, securing the win with a beautifully guided forehand return winner.

Iga Świątek celebrates her first Wimbledon semifinal. (Ben Whitley / PA Images via Getty Images)

Świątek’s fall from being a dominant world No. 1 of 125 weeks is well documented. She hasn’t won a title in 13 months and hadn’t reached a final in that period until the Wimbledon tune-up event in Bad Homburg, Germany. But she’s still the world No. 4, has reached the semifinals of all three Grand Slams this year, and has now picked up the second-most ranking points of anyone in 2025.

Those results would be used as an illustration of excellence for just about any other player on tour. Someone as successful as Świątek is held to different standards, but the characterization of her past year as a catastrophe now feels as wide of the mark as the idea that she cannot play on grass.

She will face Belinda Bencic, who beat No. 7 seed Mirra Andreeva 7-6(3), 7-6(2) in a tense, involving match on Centre Court.

Charlie Eccleshare

Djokovic’s slip

Djokovic, who is looking for a record-equaling eighth Wimbledon title and a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam title, battled and then surged past the Italian No. 22 seed Flavio Cobolli 6-7(6), 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 to set up Friday’s date with Sinner.

A fall on his second match point, after a Cobolli forehand clipped the net and wrongfooted Djokovic, looked to have put a bad exclamation mark on proceedings, but in his on-court interview, Djokovic played down the slip.

In his news conference, he said he hoped to be fine come Friday, despite describing the fall as “nasty” and “very awkward”. On facing Sinner, Djokovic said: “You couldn’t ask for a bigger challenge, for sure, for myself. I look forward to it. I’ll do my best to get ready and perform my best there.”

After toiling against Alex de Minaur in the fourth round Monday, Djokovic again lost the first set here. He served for it against Cobolli but was broken, and then lost a tight tiebreak. Cobolli might have been overawed by facing Djokovic, having described him as his “biggest idol” in the build-up before practicing with Djokovic’s son, Stefan, last week, but he went toe-to-toe in his first Grand Slam quarterfinal.

Djokovic has lost the first set in 94 Grand Slam matches, winning 54 of them and losing 40, but 28 of those defeats have come against top-20 players. He is now 23-12 in such matches against men outside the top 20. And when he splits the first two sets, his record goes up to 102-18, compared to 7-26 when two sets down.

As soon as he won the second set on a court he has made his living room the past 14 years, with seven Wimbledon titles, the result did not really feel in doubt. Sinner was on his mind as soon as it was over.

“For me, this is what counts actually the most… Being in the last stages of Grand Slams and playing against the best player in the world right now. Him next to Alcaraz are the leaders of tennis today, men’s tennis.”

Charlie Eccleshare

Shot of the day

This about sums it up for Shelton: Even when he conjures some magic, Sinner has an answer.

Up next: women’s semifinals

🎾Aryna Sabalenka (1) vs. Amanda Anisimova (13)

8:30 a.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN+

Sabalenka dealt with Laura Siegemund’s off-speed balls and sneaky slices in her quarterfinal. In Anisimova, she will have to contend with a resurgent talent who can match her blast-for-blast from the baseline. Sabalenka’s greater variety may be key.

🎾 Iga Świątek (8) vs. Belinda Bencic

Follows Sabalenka vs. Anisimova on ESPN/ESPN+

Świątek and Bencic played a memorably agonizing match at the 2023 tournament, in which Bencic held two match points before succumbing to the then-world No. 1. Bencic can redirect the ball better than Świątek’s previous opponents, but in forehand-to-forehand exchanges, Świątek will be confident.

Wimbledon men’s draw 2025

Wimbledon women’s draw 2025

Tell us what you noticed on the 10th day…

(Top photo of Ben Shelton and Jannik Sinner: Henry Nicholls / AFP via Getty Images; design: Eamonn Dalton / The Athletic)

This news was originally published on this post .

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