Australian Open 2025 – For Shelton, the stage is never too big

There were three expected highlights in the final four of the first Grand Slam of the year. Jannik Sinner and Alexander Zverev, the top two in the world, each at one end of the table. Then, your choice, Carlos Alcaraz or Novak Djokovic, called to face each other by the (dis)grace of the draw from the quarter-finals. It will therefore be the Serbian, at the meeting in the semi-finals, just like the Italian-German duo. So far, no surprises. It remained to know the fourth element.

It could have been No. 4 seed Taylor Fritz or local regular Daniil Medvedev, No. 5 on the list. But the complementary number is called Ben Shelton and, on closer inspection, it’s at most a half-surprise. Surprise, because the American stagnated or even slightly regressed in the rankings in 2024. He was 17th at the end of 2023 and 21st a year later. A borderline Top 20 player on the verge of the Grand Slam final is not an absolute guarantee, to say the least. But the ranking doesn’t always tell everything.

In tennis, there are those who seem to shrink depending on the circumstances. The bigger the tournament, the bigger the court, the bigger the crowd, the bigger the stakes, the venue and the opponent, the more they crowd into a corner and become almost tiny. Then there are those who, as if by magic, grow when everything grows. They feel in their place. Ben Shelton is one of them. For him, the short and the context never seem excessive.

Be careful, don’t read what we don’t write. Shelton is not all-risk Grand Slam insurance. It is still inconstant, sinusoidal, with a variable performativity depending on the seasons and the surfaces. Last year, he stalled three times in the third round, culminating in the round of 16 at Wimbledon. Quite consistent, ultimately, with a player sailing from 20th place in the world. So, what?

So on Friday, he will play the semi-finals of the Australian Open and, casually, after the US Open 2023, it is already his second appearance at this level of the competition. And this, for such a new player (even more than his age of 22, it must be remembered that he emerged on the circuit relatively late compared to a Sinner, an Alcaraz or even a Son), who we remember as used his passport for the first time in his life in January 2023 to travel to Australia, and who only has 10 majors on his CV, that’s remarkable.

Some people go a lifetime without setting foot in the Grand Slam semis. To give you an idea, two major semi-finals is as many as his “big brother” Gaël Monfils, former world number 6, whose tennis life has been more than respectable.

Ben Shelton has as many semi-majors as titles on the circuit. In Masters 1000, he looks more like a ghost than a client. Two short quarter-finals, lost, and that’s it, in twice as many participations as in Grand Slams. His quarter-final in Melbourne two years ago revealed the man and, already, he seemed to be doing well in this gigantic context.

He clearly acts as a little thumb in this final Australian straight. Against Djokovic, obviously. Everyone looks like a midget at this point against the Serb. But this is also the case against Sinner, world number one, defending champion, and undisputed boss of the circuit. And if Zverev does not have more Grand Slam titles than him to put on the table, the German has been at the top or very close to it for years and he is a candidate for the title at every Grand Slam. In this final quartet, Shelton is the underdog and seeing him lift the Norman Brookes Trophy on Sunday is more of a fantasy than a goal. It would be a gigantic surprise, when a victory for one of the others would demonstrate a form of logic, to varying degrees.

Despite everything, he seems rather at home in such good company. Against Jannik Sinner, he will enter the Rod Laver Arena with his smile, his charisma, his self-confidence and his weapons. His maousse serve, his forehand of the same ilk, his physique, but also, and this is not the most neutral, his conviction of belonging to this circle make him a legitimate semi-finalist. And this is probably not the last time we will find him here, or even further afield.

Ben Shelton knows that he still has giant steps to make in terms of progression, that he will have to gain consistency on the circuit. The most likely is that his tournament ends there on Friday against Jannik Sinner. But it will be because the Italian is still too big for him. Not because the issue and the event are.