Australian Open 2025: Jannik Sinner, Ben Shelton seal semi-final berths

Jannik Sinner defeated Alex de Minaur to progress to the Australian Open semi-finals. He will be playing against Ben Shelton in the semis, who defeated Lorenzo Sonego in a thrilling quarter-final at Rod Laver Arena.

Defending champion Jannik Sinner beat Alex de Minaur 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 to advance to the Australia Open semi-final. The Italian wrapped up the match in only one hour and 48 minutes on the Rod Laver Arena and moved closer to his third career Grand Slam. Notably, Sinner crushed Minaur every time they faced and Wednesday, January 22 was no different. He now holds a 10-0 head-to-head record against the world number eight.

Sinner also won 12 matches on the trot in the Australian Open. He also holds the record of winning 34 out of 35 matches at the Melbourne Park. Next up, the 23-year-old will play Ben Shelton, who defeated Lorenzo Sonego in a thrilling quarter-final. The American was knocked out in the quarter-finals in 2023 but he was determined this time around, winning the match 6-4 7-5 4-6 7-6 (7-4).

“I feel relieved right now. Shout out to Lorenzo Sonego, that was some ridiculous tennis. This was one of the favourite matches of my career,” Shelton said after the match. 

Sinner, on the other hand, was happy with his performance and noted that he has played plenty of matches against Minaur and believes that they understand each other's game by now. He also lauded the Australian to be a tough competitor and an amazing competitor. 

“I feel like today I was feeling everything. On days like this, when you break quite early in each set, it’s a little bit easier. He’s a tough competitor and an amazing player… We know each other quite well now. We’ve played each other so many times and we try to understand each others game and try to prepare ourselves in the best possible way. These kinds of matches, they can go quickly, but also they can change very fast if I go down with my level a little bit and he takes opportunities. I’m very happy about my performance today,” Sinner said.

Meanwhile, despite the disappointing performance, there were plenty of positives for Minaur. He has qualified for the quarters in the past four Grand Slam tournaments and will be hoping to break the pattern and challenge for the title soon.