Ben Shelton to Face World No. 1 in Wimbledon Quarterfinal

Ben Shelton to Face World No. 1 in Wimbledon Quarterfinal originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

It was an eventful day in Round 4 of the 2025 Wimbledon Men’s Singles tournament on Monday, with five-set thrillers, injury retirements and come-from-behind victories. One of these comeback wins came from former Florida Gators national champion Ben Shelton.

Shelton lost the first set 6-3 against Italian Lorenzo Sonego, who is ranked No. 47 in the world, before taking the next three sets to advance to the first Wimbledon quarterfinal of his career. With victory, Shelton became the youngest American to go this far in the tournament since Andy Roddick in 2004.

Later in the day, Shelton found out who his opponent would be in the final eight, as he drew the top-ranked player in the world, Italian Jannik Sinner. The two will play on Wednesday at the All England Club.

Sinner, who had not dropped a set going into the fourth round, lost the first two against Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov on Monday. Dimitrov, the No. 19 seed in the men’s draw, looked to be on his way to a major upset before injuring himself in the third set.

Tied at two games apiece, Dimitrov immediately held the right side of his chest after one of his right-handed serves. This apparent pectoral injury forced him to retire from the match, allowing Sinner to advance.

Shelton, who also lost his first set of the tournament on Monday after breezing through the first three rounds, will have a chance for revenge against the world No. 1. The two have matched up six times in their professional careers, with Sinner winning five.

The latest meeting came six months ago in the Australian Open semifinal, where Sinner beat Shelton in straight sets. The Italian also ended Shelton’s Wimbledon run last year, which came in the round of 16.

Now, with Shelton entering the fourth grand slam quarterfinal of his career, and Sinner coming off a match where he failed to win a set, this may be the best time of all for the American to knock off the top-ranked player in the world.

Related: Ben Shelton Achieves Feat That Hadn’t Been Done in Over Two Decades on Monday

This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 7, 2025, where it first appeared.