Ben Shelton is bringing the glory back to U.S. tennis at Wimbledon. Now in his first-ever quarterfinal at SW19, the 22-year-old faces a huge test. He’s up against World No.1 Jannik Sinner, who’s made this tournament his playground—semifinals in 2023 and quarterfinals in 2022, 2023, and 2024. But Shelton isn’t far behind this year. He powered through tough opponents, winning his first three matches in straight sets, only dropping a set in the fourth round against Lorenzo Sonego. Stats aside, there’s something extra intriguing about Shelton on Court 1.

Right now, the match is in its opening set, with both players leaving it all on the line for a shot at the next round. Jannik sports a sleeve over his right arm, nursing an elbow injury from his battle with Grigor Dimitrov in the Round of 16. Meanwhile, Shelton’s upper arm features a few mysterious circles. What are they?

Those marks first appeared in his previous round against Sonego. BBC commentator Clare Balding cleared up the mystery, saying, “Those marks, by the way, on his shoulder, those are not tattoos, that’s from cupping, it’s bit like what the swimmers do and it really pulls the blood to surface.” So, what’s the benefit?

Cupping therapy involves sticking cups onto your skin for a few minutes to create a vacuum. The idea is to shift blood flow to or from specific spots, helping to ease pain and reduce inflammation. It’s a popular recovery trick across many sports, not just one.

Could this be Shelton’s secret weapon to break into his first Wimbledon semifinal? Only time will tell! For now, keep up with all the action and drama from the Championships on our Live Blog!

Update: Jannik Sinner prevailed as the champion once again. While Shelton put up a good fight, the Italian World No.1 defeated him in straight sets 7-6, 6-4, 6-4.

But coming back to the marks, this isn’t the first time Shelton has shown up and grabbed attention with his cupping bruises! Back in 2023, at the US Open, the American first grabbed attention for the marks on his arms. Raising many questions amongst fans and analysts alike.

With his Wimbledon run coming to an end, it’s sad to see him walk off the court now. Perhaps he can find solace that he made a new milestone this time by reaching the final eight! He certainly earned praise from Sinner for it!

Ben Shelton’s opponent gets real about his grass game

In his post-match interview, Jannik Sinner didn’t hold back when speaking about Shelton. “I’m very, very happy with this performance. Playing against him is so difficult,” he said. In the past, these two have had some tough battles! They are two of the best servers in the sport, and Shelton just got off a dominant performance against Lorenzo Sonego in the final three sets of their match after dropping the first set.

Sinner went on to describe their growing rivalry: “He had chances very well, and, you know, as we saw in the last game… but, you know, overall, we played shoulder to shoulder now more and more. We got to know each other a little bit better, and, you know, I’m looking forward to this kind of battle. And it’s even more special to play in front of you guys, it’s outdoors and amazing.”

Sinner came into this match with some uncertainty. He was down two sets against Grigor Dimitrov in the fourth round before Dimitrov retired due to injury, handing Sinner a spot in the quarters. But the Italian didn’t escape unscathed—he had to get an MRI after a tough fall on Monday. Still, he held a strong edge over Shelton, with their head-to-head now standing at 6-1.

In the end, it just wasn’t Shelton’s day, but the American showed plenty of grit. His fight on grass was impressive, and you can bet he’ll be back with renewed energy for the hard court season. Maybe this loss will light a fire in Shelton for bigger wins ahead. What do you think? Drop your thoughts in the comments!