Jannik Sinner and Ben Shelton went head-to-head on Friday evening (local time) in the second Australian Open men’s singles semi-final.
As the world No. 1, Sinner entered the clash as not only the favourite for the match, but the entire tournament.
Shelton, meanwhile, was aiming to reach his first career grand slam final amid his rise up the ranks.
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Jannik Sinner vs. Ben Shelton score, result
Jannik Sinner emerged victorious in Friday night’s semi-final, defeating Ben Shelton 7-6(2) 6-2 6-2.
Shelton got off the mark quickest in the first set, breaking his opponent’s opening service game.
While he had his own serve broken a few games later, the American was going toe-to-toe with Sinner from the baseline.
Shelton looked the better player in the opening period and earned himself a chance to serve for the set after breaking again to go up 6-5.
He even had himself a pair of set points, but made some unforced errors in critical moments which saw Sinner break back.
Those missed opportunities to wrap up the set seemed to weigh on Shelton in the tiebreak, with Sinner winning five consecutive points before winning the breaker 7-2.
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It started to unravel for the No. 21 seed, with the frustration of dropping the opening set appearing to weigh on him.
The rising star struggled with his accuracy, pushing several routine shots beyond the baseline.
Sinner, meanwhile, continued to play in a composed fashion, breaking Shelton’s first two games of serve to go up 4-0 before taking the set 6-2.
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To Shelton’s credit, he began the third set positively despite the scoreboard. The 22-year-old fired some nice winners and got the crowd on their feet.
Despite this, Sinner’s relentless nature saw him claim the first break of the set to go up 3-2.
During that game, the Italian started to limp after a slightly awkward landing, before receiving some quick physio attention during the break.
This didn’t seem to hinder him in the slightest though, tearing through the next three games (including a break of serve) to take out the match.
When is the Australian Open men’s singles final?
Sinner will take on Alexander Zverev in this year’s men’s singles decider.
The match is set to start at 7:30 pm local time (AEDT) on Sunday, January 26.
