Wimbledon Men's Quarterfinal Predictions Including Sinner vs Shelton

We are set for two blockbuster men’s quarterfinal matches at Wimbledon on Wednesday. Jannik Sinner, given a reprieve after the devastating injury to Grigor Dimitrov, will face rising American star Ben Shelton. Novak Djokovic, meanwhile, takes on first-time Slam quarterfinalist Flavio Cobolli. As always, our writers share their thoughts on both matches. Predicting these matches are Ateet Shrivastava, Manan Mehta, Jordan Reynolds, Damian Kust, and Yesh Ginsburg. Who do you think will win?

Wimbledon Quarterfinal Predictions

Novak Djokovic vs Flavio Cobolli

Ateet:

Novak Djokovic played his worst match of the tournament against Alex de Minaur but did well to close out in four sets. He was trailing in the fourth, and if the Australian maintained his high level for 10 more minutes, the match would have gone to a deciding set. The conditions were also difficult, and Djokovic will hope to adapt better if it’s the same against Flavio Cobolli. This is the second meeting between these two, and despite Cobolli’s great form, he will struggle to match the Serb’s precision.

Prediction: Djokovic in 4

Manan:

Djokovic came out of some serious trouble against De Minaur. He brought his best game out during clutch points. De Minaur was a stiffer battle than what he is up against now. Cobolli has done a great job so far but still lacks the right usage of the slice. With Djokovic also having developed a solid serve and volley, one should expect him to win this without much trouble.

Prediction: Djokovic in 4

Jordan:

Djokovic is probably pretty happy with this matchup, but he cannot afford to be complacent. Cobolli has been superb so far, only dropping one set and losing serve twice in his opening four matches. It is tough to go against Djokovic, especially since this will be Cobolli’s first Grand Slam quarterfinal, but expect it to be competitive.

Prediction: Djokovic in 4

Damian:

Cobolli making the quarterfinals at Wimbledon comes a little unexpected, but he’s pretty all-rounded and often finds a good balance between attack and defense regardless of conditions. Can he trouble Djokovic after the 24-time Grand Slam champion had a bad day at the office against de Minaur? It’s not out of the question, but I’m just not convinced he’s unpredictable enough to get Djokovic out of his comfort zone.

Prediction: Djokovic in 4

Yesh:

Cobolli is playing the best tennis of his life so far, but I don’t think that will matter. He has no weapons that can hurt Djokovic, and the Serb is going to rattle him early with success on return.

Prediction: Djokovic in 3

Embed from Getty Images

Jannik Sinner vs Ben Shelton

Ateet:

World No.1 Jannik Sinner got extremely lucky to get through the fourth round due to Grigor Dimitrov’s retirement. He struggled to deal with Dimitrov’s variety and serve, and will look to play a better match in the quarterfinals. Ben Shelton once again defeated Lorenzo Sonego in a close match. Sinner has the mental advantage in this matchup, having beaten the American player five times in a row. Shelton doesn’t have the same variety as Dimitrov and will find it difficult to break the Italian.

Prediction: Sinner in 4

Manan:

Sinner would be the first to admit he came out of jail. He looked down and out but destiny had it otherwise to give him another chance. This match will be above the tennis played. It will be more about mental strength than anything else. It will be about if Sinner feels he deserves to be in the quarterfinals. Being the no. 1, I expect him to be positive and locked in and bring his A-game. Shelton will have to use the serve and volley strategy like Dimitrov if he has to upset Sinner; otherwise the Italian may have many tricks up his sleeve.

Prediction: Sinner in 4

Jordan:

Sinner will be in significant trouble if he does not raise his game from the fourth round against Dimitrov, but I expect the Italian to play much better in this one. Although grass is not his favorite surface, the world No. 1 playing so far below his best in consecutive matches would be surprising. I also think this is not a bad matchup for him. He should be able to hold serve and then wait for the right moments to get chances in return games.

Prediction: Sinner in 3

Damian:

Shelton has that kind of game where if his weapons are firing, there’s almost no limit as to who he could beat. And with grass making the margins slimmer plus how shaky Sinner looked against Dimitrov, there’s a lot to suggest this will be a very close match. When they met at Wimbledon last year, the American was almost completely wiped out after three consecutive five-setters. Now he should have a lot more energy to try to hang with the World No. 1.

Prediction: Sinner in 5

Yesh:

These two met in the fourth round of Wimbledon last year, with Sinner winning easily. Since then, Shelton is better, and Sinner played his worst Grand Slam match in years last round. How will Sinner recover mentally from knowing that he shouldn’t even be in this tournament anymore? Will he play more freely? Or will he tighten and go in a shell? Because if the latter, Shelton has the game to send him packing.

Prediction: Shelton in 4

Main Photo Credit: Peter van den Berg-USA TODAY Sports

Click here to read article