The American player who was the last to beat Jannik Sinner when ranked outside the top 10

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Jannik Sinner’s hard-court dominance at Grand Slams came to an end at the US Open, where he lost to a red-hot Carlos Alcaraz in four sets.

Sinner’s defeat to Alcaraz at Flushing Meadows this year marked the first time since 2023 the Italian had lost a match at a hard court major, having gone unbeaten at the Australian Open and the US Open in 2024 and 2025.

While the Italian’s streak on his preferred surface at Grand Slams may have been snapped, he still holds another incredible record on the concrete.

With Sinner’s triumph over Marin Cilic at the ongoing China Open, he has now won his last 60 matches on hard court against players ranked outside the top ten.

Jannik Sinner’s last loss to a non-top ten player on hard court

His last such defeat came at the Shanghai Masters in 2023, in which he entered as the sixth seed.

There, Sinner won his first two matches against Marcos Giron and Sebastian Baez to book his place in the round of 16.

His next opponent came in the form of then-21-year-old Ben Shelton, who was enjoying a breakthrough season on the ATP Tour.

Shelton, who had reached the US Open semifinals the month prior, came back from a set down to beat Sinner 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(5) and advance to the first Masters 1000 quarterfinal of his career.

The bout, which was the first in their head-to-head, lasted two hours and 32 minutes, and resulted in the American claiming just his third top-ten win.

After besting Sinner, however, Shelton exited the tournament in his next match with US compatriot Sebastian Korda.

Jannik Sinner’s head-to-head record against Ben Shelton

Since then, the four-time Grand Slam champion has dominated the head-to-head with his 2023 conqueror, claiming six straight victories against him.

After losing to him in Shanghai, Sinner has not dropped a set against Shelton, including in all three of their Grand Slam meetings.

This year, they have faced off twice, with the former world number one coming out on top in their showdowns at the Australian Open and Wimbledon.

Their most recent matchup was at the All England Club this summer, where Sinner was taken to a first-set tiebreak by Shelton, but ultimately came through en route to a maiden crown in SW19.