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Ben Shelton left the United States for the first time in 2023 to embark on the tour of the Antipodes. In his first appearance at the Australian Open, he reached the quarter-finals. That was his ceiling in the tournament
The American overcame Lorenzo Sonego, 6-4, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6(4), on Wednesday. Ben, a personal bet of Roger Federer and his agent Tony Godsick, returns to the penultimate round of a major. He was already there at the US Open in 2023. On that occasion Novak Djokovic closed the doors on him. On Friday he will face the winner of the match between Jannik Sinner and Alex de Minaur.
The match with Sonego was defined by unforced errors. The Italian made a staggering 55 unforced errors compared to 33 for his opponent, who was able to break his opponent's serve once more (three to two).
An endangered species
Shelton, ranked 20th in the ATP rankings at the age of 22, has become the 25th American tennis player to break into the top four at the first major on the calendar. Ben is only the second left-hander since 1988 to reach the semifinals of both the Australian Open and the US Open. The other was Rafael Nadal