Some players play like they are born for the big stage. Ben Shelton may only have 10 Grand Slam main draws under his belt, but in that brief period of time, he has most certainly proven that he is one of them. The bigger the crowd, the more energy the 23-year-old American seems to bring.
The bigger the crowd, the more energy the 22-year-old American delivers. The larger the moment, the more focused he becomes. We saw it in 2023, when then 20-year-old Shelton reached the semifinals on his Aussie Open debut to become the youngest American man to reach the last four in Melbourne in 41 years.
And we saw it again on Wednesday as Shelton took down Italian Lorenzo Sonego 6-4, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6(4) to become the fifth youngest American man to reach an Australian Open semifinal and the eighth American man in the open era to reach multiple Grand Slam semifinals.
Playing in the quarterfinals in Melbourne for the second time in three years, 20th-ranked Shelton came through an entertaining battle to improve to 2-1 lifetime against the 55th-ranked first-time major quarterfinalst.
“I feel relieved right now,” Shelton said on court after the win. “Shoutout to Lorenzo Sonego because that was some ridiculous tennis.”
“You just have to love this kid, the energy he brings,” said seven-time major champion John McEnroe, who commentated the match for ESPN.
It was an entertaining tussle between two players with a flair for the dramatic and plenty of tricks up their sleeve.
Shelton, seeking his first career win on Rod Laver Arena, had the upper hand early. The southpaw rifled a 144 MPH ace down the T, his third of the set, to lock in a closely contested opener, 6-4.
The excitement picked up early in the second set, as Shelton forced a forehand error at the end of a 20-stroke rally to earn a break point in the opening game, but Sonego countered it with one of the most sensational shots of the tournament, a wicked spinning volley that hit on Shelton’s side of the net and spun back over to Sonego’s side, where the Italian was splayed out from falling.
Shelton stayed at the net to congratulate his opponent, but he didn’t linger long. He kept pushing in the game, but Sonego, spirit lifted by the incredible shot, saved a pair of break points to hold.
Shelton would get his lead eventually, when he played a defensive gem to break Sonego for 4-3, sending a high defensive lob over the Italian’s head before cranking a forehand winner to put the point to bed and strike first blood in the set.
Sonego would crack back with a break for 5-all but the Italian’s momentum was short-lived – Shelton broke back for 6-5 and held serve for a two sets to love lead moments later.
Sonego may have had his struggles in the opening two sets, but he was clean as a whistle in the third. He dropped two points on serve (20 of 22), and broke through for a break in the tenth game, rallying from 40-0 down to convert his second break point of the game and lock down the set, 6-4.
In the fourth it all came down to a tiebreak. Sonego had the early lead but nerves crept in as he made back-to-back errors on serve to squander his early advantage. The Italian, who had flipped the script in sets three and four and done the greater percentage of dictating, connected on a smash to recover the mini-break to head to the change of ends at 3-3.
In a match that was full of exquisite shotmaking, Shelton had the last say in the tiebreak. He pelted an inside-out forehand winner off the back foot for 4-3, and after tumbling into the barrier at the side of the court on the next point, Shelton dusted himself off (after doing a few pushups) and reeled off the final three points. He finished his performance by launching a final forehand that glanced off Sonego’s forehand to close the contest in three hours and 50 minutes.
Shelton improves to 18-5 at the hard court majors in six career appearances. He has reached a quarterfinal and two semifinals, and he’ll face either World No.1 Jannik Sinner or Aussie Alex de Minaur on Friday in Melbourne.