Jannik Sinner will face Alexander Zverev in the Australian Open after a dominant win over Ben Shelton in the semi-finals.
The Italian world No1 saw off 21st-seed Shelton 7-6 (7-2) 6-2 6-2 at the Rod Laver Arena to hand him the chance to defend the Australian Open title he won last year in what was his first Grand Slam triumph.
It came after Zverev’s place in the showpiece was confirmed after Novak Djokovic was forced to retire with injury after losing the first set to the German.
Zverev now faces a daunting task in the final, with Sinner’s victory on Friday extending his winning streak to 20 matches, having not lost since October last year.
Shelton, who was bidding to reach his first major final, broke Sinner in the first game of the match but squandered that break just three games later.
He broke again to make it 6-5 in the first set but was overcome by Sinner after missing two set points.
From that point, 23-year-old Sinner was in control, comfortably seeing out the next two sets to continue his impressive tournament in Melbourne so far despite concerns over his condition in the previous two rounds.
Jannik Sinner: mentality monster 😈@bondisands • #BondiSands • #StayCool • #AusOpen • #AO2025 • @wwos • @ESPN • @Eurosport • @WOWOWtennis pic.twitter.com/k5466EHIXW
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 24, 2025
The top seed appeared to limp during the final set but won the final five games to close out the victory in style.
“There was a lot of tension and I had some slight cramps,” Sinner said afterwards.
“These matches can go very long. Three sets in two-and-a-half hours is quite some time, so I’m happy to finish it in three.”
