Jannik Sinner passes Ben Shelton to set Novak Djokovic Australian Open SF | ATP tour | Tennis

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Sinner passes Shelton and sets Djokovic Australian Open SF

Italian is chasing third consecutive Australian Open title
January 28, 2026

Jannik Sinner kept his three-peat Australian Open bid going on Wednesday as he produced another ruthless performance to brush aside Ben Shelton and extend his stranglehold on the American.

The two-time defending champion, undefeated in Melbourne since 2023, never looked in serious danger against Shelton. He cruised past the eighth seed 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 to book his place in the semifinals.

Shelton had dropped just one set heading into the third quarter-final of the Australian Open, but as in previous encounters he struggled to unleash his explosive play against the Italian. Sinner exposed Shelton’s backhand, rushed him to the forehand wing and dictated from the baseline to improve his Lexus ATP Head2Head record to an impressive 9-1. All four of their major meetings have now gone in Sinner’s favour, twice in Australia and twice at Wimbledon.

“It’s very difficult to play against Ben,” Sinner said. “He has a huge serve and I feel like he is improving a lot year after year. Especially after the off-season you don’t know how certain players will play against you and how they will change a lot of things. I am very happy with today’s performance.”

In his ninth Grand Slam semi-final and third at the Australian Open, the four-time major champion faces a blockbuster next test against record ten-time winner Novak Djokovic. Sinner has previously enjoyed notable semi-final success against the Serbian, beating him at that stage at the Australian Open (2024), Roland Garros (2025) and Wimbledon (2025).

“These are the moments you practice for,” Sinner said to Djokovic. “I wake up in the morning and look forward to hopefully playing a good match. If you want to win you have to play your best. In the past I have had great lessons and the result doesn’t really matter, it improves you as a player and as a person. We are lucky that Novak is still here and is playing incredible tennis at his age.”

HYPED! 😳

Novak Djokovic vs. Jannik Sinner for a place in the 2026 Australian Open final#AO26 pic.twitter.com/zxxBo1zBsF

— ATP tour (@atptour) January 28, 2026

Rock solid behind his first serve and fearless in the longer rallies, second seed Shelton never gave up his footing as he calmly absorbed the pace before converting it with interest. Sinner quickly found his range at Rod Laver Arena and announced his intention to open the third game with a backhand around the net post. Moments later he struck the decisive blow, breaking Shelton’s serve as the world number 7 pushed a forehand into the net to fall 1-3 behind.

Sinner closed out the opening set in impressive fashion, finishing 18-4 winners on unforced errors in the set, and carried that momentum seamlessly into the second. The pressure on Shelton’s game only increased, with the three-time tour level title winner unable to settle into a clear playing pattern and faltering at crucial moments. Shelton squandered all three break points he created in the set and leaked another 17 unforced errors, allowing Sinner to pull further away.

Sinner, who appeared to be struggling physically in the closing stages of the second set, earned the decisive break of the third set in the ninth game when Shelton hit a double fault while trailing at 15/40. The Italian closed the service after two hours and 23 minutes.

Did you know?
Sinner has won all 18 Grand Slam matches against American opponents and boasts a 6-2 record against Top 10 players at the hard-court major, having lost his first two such meetings in 2022 and 2023 to Stefanos Tsitsipas.