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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
George Flood

Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner reveal new injury updates before Wimbledon semi-final showdown

Familiar rivals: Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic also met in the semi-finals of the French Open back in May - (Ben Whitley/PA Wire)

Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner have both provided new injury updates ahead of their blockbuster semi-final showdown at Wimbledon.

The seven-time winner and reigning men’s world No1 are due to clash on Centre Court on Friday for a place in the final at the All England Club, while defending back-to-back champion Carlos Alcaraz meets American fifth seed Taylor Fritz.

However, a repeat of the last-four match at the French Open from May, which Sinner won in straight sets to edge 5-4 in front on head to head, could have been subject to question with both players now potentially carrying injuries.

Djokovic slipped and fell in awkward fashion on the baseline during the late stages of his eventful four-set quarter-final victory over 22nd seed Flavio Cobolli on Wednesday, appearing in pain afterwards before recovering to claim the final two points needed to reach a record 14th Wimbledon semi-final.

Asked how he was feeling in his post-match press conference at SW19, the 24-time Grand Slam winner, looking to equal great rival Roger Federer with his eighth Wimbledon title this week, said: “It was a nasty fall, it was very awkward.

“That happens on the grass. I've had quite a few of those throughout my grass court career.

“Obviously, [my] body is not the same today like it was before, so I guess the real impact or effect of what happened I will feel tomorrow. So let's see.

“I'm hoping the next 24, 48 hours that the severity of what happened is not too bad, that I'll be able to play at my best and free of pain in two days.”

Meanwhile, Sinner’s straight-sets victory against American 10th seed Ben Shelton came despite an elbow issue sustained when he also slipped on the baseline on Monday during his fourth-round match against Grigor Dimitrov, in which he trailed by two sets before the Bulgarian 19th seed was forced to retire with a pectoral injury.

The Italian subsequently underwent a scan and cancelled a practice session to spark fears over a potential withdrawal. However, he was later spotted in an elbow brace and wore a protective sleeve on his right arm against Shelton, appearing to suffer no lingering effects as he eased through into his second Wimbledon semi-final by a scoreline of 7-6 6-4 6-4.

And Sinner - who has never previously reached the final in west London - is confident that he will be fully ready to face Djokovic on Friday having taken painkillers to get through his quarter-final tie.

"The pain is getting better," he told BBC Sport. "I played with some painkillers which helped me to get through.

"Returning fast serves is not easy. But yes, it's not something crazy serious because if not I would be much more concerned.

"Time will always help and [Thursday] is one day off, which is going to be good for me, and Friday I'm going to be 100%."

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