Guillaume Marion, Media365, published on Wednesday January 22, 2025 at 10:45 a.m.
Winner of Lorenzo Sonego in four sets, Ben Shelton will play the semi-finals of the Australian Open, facing Jannik Sinner or Alex de Minaur. This will be the second time that he finds himself in the last four of a Grand Slam tournament.
After a generally disappointing 2024, Ben Shelton is starting 2025 in the best possible way. In fact, this Wednesday, the young American (22 years old) qualified for the semi-finals of the Australian Open by beating Lorenzo Sonego in four sets (6-4, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6) and 3h50 of game. After taking advantage of the abandonment of Gaël Monfils in the previous round, the 20th in the world initially had to save three break points at 2-3, before making the difference at the end of the 1st set by taking the serve of the 'Italian at the best of times, at 5-4. Behind, with a shutout, the Atlanta native concluded this first round. Subsequently, the scenario was quite similar with two entry break points for his opponent but it was Shelton who broke away in this 2nd set, leading 5-3. If the 55th in the world was able to return to 5-5, the American finished this round strong by pocketing the two games that followed.
And now, a shock against Sinner?
Touched but not yet sunk, Sonego then reignited the suspense a little by winning the 3rd set, thanks to a break obtained at 5-4. On the Rod Laver Arena, while the tension had just increased a notch in this quarter-final, we had to wait for the decisive game to know who was going to make the difference in this 4th round (only three break points saved before that ). In the tie-break, although he broke first, Shelton was able to rectify the situation and concluded the deal on his first match point (7-4). After the US Open in 2023, the American will once again play a Grand Slam semi-final this Friday. It will either be against Jannik Sinner, the world number 1 and title contender in Melbourne, or against local Alex de Minaur. While he lost 4-1 in direct confrontations against the Italian, the Atlanta native has never faced the Australian on the ATP circuit.
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