Unstoppable Sinner beats Shelton to enter back to back finals

Jannik Sinner moved to within one win of successfully defending his Australian Open title on Friday when he overcame American Ben Shelton 7-6(2), 6-2, 6-2 in a heavy-hitting semi-final clash on Rod Laver Arena.

In a match between two of the biggest ball strikers on Tour, it was the Italian who found greater control, accuracy and resilience to record his 20th consecutive tour-level win and advance to his third major final.

The No. 1 player in the PIF ATP Rankings saved two set points on Shelton’s serve in the first set to lead. Sinner continued to deal with the American’s heavy power in the second and third sets by defending well out of the corners, while he pressured the 22-year-old with his clean timing to advance after two hours and 35 minutes.

“It was a very tough first set but very crucial,” Sinner said. “I felt he was not serving at his best today. The percentage was not where he would have wanted it at. I think we both returned better than we served. First sets are always very important. It gives you a lot of confidence and there was a lot of tension for both of us. I am very happy with how I handled the situation today.”

Sinner, 23, is the youngest man to reach multiple Australian Open finals since Jim Courier in 1993. The top seed holds a 100 per cent record in major finals (AO 2024, US Open ’24) and will hope to maintain that record against Alexander Zverev, who advanced after Novak Djokovic was forced to retire from their semi-final due to injury.

Sinner was the man to beat in 2024, winning a Tour-leading eight titles and climbing to No. 1 in June. The 23-year-old ended last year by winning in Shanghai, triumphing on home soil at the Nitto ATP Finals and then guiding Italy to Davis Cup glory for the second successive year. Competing for the first time this season at the Australian Open, Sinner has continued where he left off, dropping just two sets en route to the championship match in Melbourne.

Including a win-streak of 20 matches, Sinner has earned victory in 36 of his past 37 matches. His lone loss came against Carlos Alcaraz in a deciding-set tie-break in the Beijing final in October.