ATP Tour
Sinner brushes past Shelton, sets Djokovic Australian Open SF
Italian chasing third consecutive Australian Open title
January 28, 2026
2026 Peter Staples
Jannik Sinner beats Ben Shelton in straight sets in Melbourne on Wednesday.
By Sam Jacot
Jannik Sinner kept his Australian Open three-peat bid rolling on Wednesday, when he produced another ruthless performance to brush aside Ben Shelton and extend his stranglehold against the American.
The two-time defending champion, unbeaten in Melbourne since 2023, never looked in serious danger against Shelton, moving past the eighth seed 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 to book his place in the semi-finals.
Shelton had dropped just one set on his way to a third Australian Open quarter-final, but as in the pair’s previous meetings, he struggled to unleash his explosive game against the Italian. Sinner exposed Shelton’s backhand, rushed him on the forehand wing and dictated from the baseline to improve his Lexus ATP Head2Head record to a commanding 9-1. All four of their major encounters have now gone Sinner’s way, twice in Australia and twice at Wimbledon.
“It is very tough to play against Ben,” Sinner said. “He has a huge, huge serve and I feel like he is improving so much, year after year. Especially after the offseason, you don’t know how certain players are going to play against you and change lots of things. I am very happy with today’s performance.”
Into his ninth Grand Slam semi-final and third at the Australian Open, the four-time major champion faces a blockbuster next test against record 10-time winner Novak Djokovic. Sinner has enjoyed notable semi-final success against the Serbian before, defeating him at that stage at the Australian Open (2024), Roland Garros (2025) and Wimbledon (2025).
“These are the moments you practise for,” Sinner said on facing Djokovic. “I will wake up in the morning and will look forward to playing a good match hopefully. If you want to win you have to play at your best. In the past I have had great lessons and it doesn’t really matter the result, it improves you as a player and a person. We are lucky to still have Novak here, 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/zzxBo1zBsF
— ATP Tour (@atptour) January 28, 2026
Rock-solid behind his first serve and unflinching in the longer rallies, the second seed never allowed Shelton a foothold, calmly absorbing pace before redirecting it with interest. Sinner quickly found his range on Rod Laver Arena, announcing his intent with a backhand around-the-net-post winner to open the third game. Moments later, he struck the decisive blow, breaking Shelton’s serve when the World No. 7 pushed a forehand into the bottom of the net to slip behind 1-3.
Sinner closed out the opening set in commanding fashion, finishing with an 18–4 winners-to-unforced-errors advantage in the set, and carried that momentum seamlessly into the second. The pressure on Shelton’s game only intensified, with the three-time tour-level titlist unable to settle into a clear pattern of play and faltering at crucial moments. Shelton squandered all three break points he created in the set and leaked a further 17 unforced errors, allowing Sinner to pull further clear.
Sinner, who appeared to struggle 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 down 15/40. The Italian closed out on serve to advance after two hours and 23 minutes.
Did You Know?
Sinner has won all 18 of his Grand Slam matches against American opponents and owns a 6-2 record against Top 10 players at the hard-court major, having lost his first two such encounters to Stefanos Tsitsipas in 2022 and 2023.
