Ben Shelton is gearing up for one of the biggest days of his career when he prepares to face Jannik Sinner in the semi-final of the Australian Open.
Shelton ousted Lorenzo Sonego in four sets to reach the last four in Melbourne for the very first time in his young career.
It’s been a good week or so for the 22-year-old. He overcame Lorenzo Musetti and Gael Monfils to set up the clash with Sonego but now faces his toughest test yet.
Sinner is way ahead of the field at the top of the world rankings. He’s here in Melbourne trying to defend the title that he won 12 months ago when he achieved Grand Slam glory for the first time.
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Ben Shelton shares what he didn’t do very well against Lorenzo Sonego
Although Shelton ultimately prevailed in the end, the game was in the balance for a little bit as Sonego threatened to stage a fightback.
The American talent prevailed though and will now be eager to showcase to the world what he can do against the best player in the world right now.
Shelton shared after his latest win what his team told him he didn’t do quite so well during the quarter-final and he will hope to improve on it tomorrow.
He told the press afterwards: “Yeah, 100%. There are some things I didn’t do great out there today. I probably had one of my – my team was telling me – one of my worst serving days.
“I just had to fight. I mean, for the first two sets I think we were both trying to find our games a little bit. Obviously I haven’t spent too much time on that court. The wind was swirling. I was joking with my team. The first time hitting on that court in the last two years was the five-minute warmup.
“So everything takes a little bit of time getting used to. After the first two sets, I thought he raised his level a lot. For me it felt like he was hitting winners on everything. He was making a lot of first serves. He was hitting lines with the first-serve spots, serving great. Yeah, started lighting it up from the ground, putting a lot of pressure coming to the net.
“So I was just grinding out there, trying to fight through it. Yeah, I’m just proud of myself to get through. Definitely feel battle-tested and able to get done in four, yeah.”
Shelton has the game to win a Grand Slam in his career
As a powerful hitter and typically a strong server, Shelton should have the game to trouble any player in the world in the future and a Grand Slam title is definitely obtainable.
It feels like American tennis is definitely back on the rise. Taylor Fritz reached a Grand Slam final back in August, whilst Learner Tien and Alex Michelsen have both been breakthrough stars at this tournament.
In the here and now, beating Sinner might prove a bridge too far. However, if he does get through to a maiden Grand Slam final it should give him so much confidence to kick on during 2025.
Tomorrow’s semi-final matches both look fascinating and it will be fascinating to see whether Shelton can improve on his serve and trouble the in-form Italian.
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