Ben Shelton sends warning to Jannik Sinner after matching his father’s Wimbledon feat

Shahida Jacobs
Ben Shelton and Jannik Sinner will square off
Ben Shelton will face Jannik Sinner next at Wimbledon

Ben Shelton has had no off days since the start of Wimbledon, but the American has warned Jannik Sinner that he is “definitely not satisfied” with his run so far at the tournament.

The American came through his third five-setter of the grass-court Grand Slam as he bounced back to defeat Denis Shapovalov 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 in three hours and four minutes.

Shelton also went the distance against qualifiers Mattia Bellucci and Lloyd Harris in the opening two rounds for a full house of 15 sets completed at the major.

To top it all, the 21-year-old hasn’t had a break as several of his matches had to be played across two days due to the bad weather during the opening week.

But there is no time for rest as he will take on world No 1 Sinner in the fourth round on Sunday in a match he described as “the pinnacle of tennis”.

“I’m happy with where I’ve gotten so far but definitely not satisfied,” he said during his on-court interview.

“The pinnacle of tennis is playing the world No 1 at Wimbledon, probably on Centre Court. So I’m very excited and ready to get after it. See you guys tomorrow and let’s get it again. Come on!”

Ben Shelton matches his dad to achieve rare feat as Sebastian Korda aims to join exclusive club

Incredible Jannik Sinner stat equals Open Era record that ‘Big 3’, Carlos Alcaraz cannot match

The 8 men to defend their Wimbledon titles in the Open Era: Can Carlos Alcaraz join Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer?

The match will be the pair’s fourth meeting with Sinner leading the H2H 2-1 having won their most recent encounter at the Indian Wells Open in March.

But there is bad news for Shelton as the match won’t be on Centre Court as it has been scheduled as the second match on Court No.1 on Sunday.

Beating Sinner is currently one of the most difficult tasks in tennis as the Italian is 41-3 this year, having won the Australian Open, Rotterdam Open, Miami Open and Halle Open.

The American, who is set to return to No 14 in the ATP Rankings following his three wins, is enjoying his best run at the Grand Slams this year as he was knocked out in the third round at the Australian Open and French Open.

Reaching the fourth round also meant Shelton equalled his father’s best-ever run at Wimbledon as Bryan Shelton also reached the round of 32 back in 1994.