Ben Shelton continues to impress at the Australian Open, although his fourth round win over Gael Monfils did end early due to an injury to the Frenchman.
ATP number 20 Shelton was leading Monfils 7-6(3), 6-7(3), 7-6(2), 1-0 when the latter called time on the match because of a back injury.
Brandon Nakashima wants Shelton to win the Australian Open, with the 22-year-old now into a quarter-final clash against Lorenzo Sonego.
Shelton has grand plans to improve, but the Australian Open 21st seed has now added recent ASB Classic champion Monfils to his list of victims in Melbourne.
The American, who reached the last eight on his debut at the tournament in 2023, has also beaten Pablo Carreno Busta, Lorenzo Musetti and Nakashima.
Boris Becker loves ‘beautiful scenes’ between Ben Shelton and Gael Monfils
Monfils meanwhile, at 38, had previously produced two stunning displays to knock out Taylor Fritz and Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.
And his latest efforts were more than appreciated post-match by Shelton, who shared a lengthy embrace with Monfils at the net, before hyping the crowd to cheer for his losing opponent.
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The fans at Margaret Court Arena responded, with former world number one Boris Becker left delighted, writing on X: “Beautiful scenes between Ben Shelton and Gael Monfils.”
Shelton meanwhile shared footage of the embrace on his Instagram story, accompanied by the word “Legend”.
What is the head-to-head record between Ben Shelton and Lorenzo Sonego?
At 22, Shelton has two ATP Tour-level titles to his name, and will return to his career-high 13th ranking with another win in Melbourne.
But he faces a tough challenge against Italian Sonego, who has so far played the role of the villain at the Australian Open.
Sonego’s intriguing tournament involves an opening round win over veteran Stan Wawrinka, the Swiss legend who beat Rafael Nadal to lift the trophy in Melbourne in 2014.
The Italian has also overcome two rising stars in Joao Fonseca and Learner Tien, who knocked out Andrey Rublev and Daniil Medvedev respectively.
Sonego, who occupies 55th place in the ATP rankings, fittingly has a 1-1 record with Shelton ahead of their quarter-final clash.
| Year | Winner | Event | Round | Surface | Score |
| 2023 | Lorenzo Sonego | Roland Garros | Round of 128 | Outdoor Clay | 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 |
| 2022 | Ben Shelton | ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati | Round of 64 | Outdoor Hard | 7-6(5), 3-6, 7-5 |
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