"Once a cheater, always a cheater" - Novak Djokovic fans accuse Jannik Sinner of 'faking' elbow injury after Wimbledon QF win vs Ben Shelton

Novak Djokovic's fans accused Jannik Sinner of faking an elbow injury before his quarterfinal match. Before this match, reports had also suggested that Sinner's practice sessions had been halted owing to the injury.

Despite this, the Italian won against Ben Shelton in the quarterfinals on Wednesday. Shelton gave a tough competition to Sinner during the first set and pushed it to a tiebreak, which the Italian won 7-2. From that point in the match, Sinner gave Shelton to work with and paved through the American to win the next two sets 6-4, 6-4.

After Sinner's victory, several Djokovic fans accused the World No. 1 of faking his elbow injury, especially due to the dominance he showed against Shelton. One of the fans called out Sinner and questioned how his elbow injuries cured so quickly, similar to his tonsillitis at the 2024 French Open. The fan wrote:

"I hear that Sinner won in straights, I thought hit Elbow would be just fine, just like his "Chronic hip" and "tonsillitis" cleared up quickly. Fair play to him and his team, they play it well."

Another fan chimed in and termed Sinner a "cheater", accusing the latter of faking injuries and also the doping incident that led to the Italian's ban earlier this year.

"Once a cheater, always a cheater. Doping, fake injuries..." the fan stated.

A fan also termed Sinner for being an actor and stated:

"He’s not only a doper but an actor too."

Here are a few other reactions:

"I could see the fakeness the minute he got up from the medical time out. He was perfectly fine but almost howling in pain a minute before." a fan wrote

"He and his team are repulsive. And the roof action with Dimitrov - pathetic" wrote another.

"Fakeinner" remarked another.

Notably, Novak Djokovic had also won his quarterfinal clash against Flavio Cobolli 6-7 (6), 6-2, 7-5, 6-4, and will now face Jannik Sinner in the semifinals on July 11. This will be the second consecutive Grand Slam semifinal between the Serb and the Italian, the first being the French Open last month, where the latter prevailed.

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Novak Djokovic discusses facing Jannik Sinner in Wimbledon SF

Novak Djokovic at the Wimbledon Championships (Image via: Getty)

Novak Djokovic made his feelings known about facing Jannik Sinner in the Wimbledon semifinal. The Serb is trailing 4-5 to the Italian when it comes to head-to-head contests so far.

In an on-court interview after his quarterfinals match against Flavio Coboll, Djokovic said that he likes competing against young players, and the matchup against Sinner will be a great contest. He said:

"Competing with youngsters makes me feel young, like Cobolli today. I enjoy running and sliding around the court. Speaking of the young guys, I will have [Jannik] Sinner in the next round so I look forward to that. That is going to be a great match-up."

Going into the semifinals, Djokovic has a superb Wimbledon record with 44 wins in his last 46 matches. His two defeats came against the reigning champion, Carlos Alcaraz.