American Ben Shelton will fight for a spot in his first Australian Open semifinal against Italian and first-time major quarterfinalist Lorenzo Sonego. The winner will meet either Jannik Sinner or Alex de Minaur.
The Australian Open draw opened up magnificently for 22-year-old Ben Shelton. The world No. 20 is one match away from the semifinals of the Happy Slam, and the highest seed he has faced is No. 16 Lorenzo Musetti.
That’s not to say that Shelton didn’t run into tough competition. Fourth-round opponent Gael Monfils actually outserved the much younger lefty and took Shelton to three tiebreak sets. Unfortunately for both Monfils and fans, the Frenchman sustained an apparent back injury–and general fatigue from tons of recent tennis–right at the start of the fourth set and cashed in his chips down a break at 0-1.
If Shelton’s draw was favorable, Lorenzo Sonego’s seemed almost ordained. The world No. 55 hasn’t gone up against a single seeded player in Melbourne. He dispatched two talented qualifiers in Joao Fonseca and Leaner Tien, but neither has big-match experience the way Shelton does. This is likely to be a much sterner test for the Italian than any he has faced so far.
Like many Americans, Shelton is most comfortable on hard courts. Expect him to use his big lefty serve to his advantage on Wednesday. Sonego won their last encounter, but it came on the clay courts of the French Open. The American won their only other hard-court match in three competitive sets at the 2022 Cincinnati Masters–and that was before Shelton was anywhere close to the player that he is now.
Cheryl pick: Shelton in 4
Ricky pick: Shelton in 4
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Shelton in 3.