Ben Shelton has never been to a Grand Slam final, but he’ll have to beat the No. 1 tennis player in the world to get there.
The 2025 Australian Open semifinals are set. Wednesday’s matches finalized the opponents, and there is one American left standing in men’s singles: 22-year-old Ben Shelton.
Shelton, the No. 21 seed, won a grueling quarterfinal against unseeded Cinderella Lorenzo Sonego, defeating him 6-4, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6(4). Sonego and Shelton were well-matched as competitors and every set was hotly contested, right down to the tiebreak at the end. And if anyone wondered how 29-year-old Sonego, currently ranked No. 55 in the world, made it to the first Grand Slam quarterfinal of his career, all they had to do was watch. Sonego had been making extraordinary points over the entire tournament.
Ah, what… How did the ball end up there?!
Not for the first time at #AO2025, Lorenzo Sonego wins a crazy point!@wwos • @espn • @eurosport • @wowowtennis pic.twitter.com/UifdSZjdEz
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 22, 2025
But on Wednesday, points like that weren’t enough for Sonego to get past Shelton. Shelton has been a slowly simmering talent on the tour for the past few years, and now he seems poised to boil over and maybe even muscle his way closer to the top of the ATP rankings.
‘Merica!@benshelton survives a four set, nearly four hour war of attrition against Lorenzo Sonego!
Semifinal Shelts.@wwos • @espn • @eurosport • @wowowtennis • #AusOpen • #AO2025 pic.twitter.com/jDQbmZLIiI
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 22, 2025
Jannik Sinner, the No. 1 seed and defending Aussie Open champion, had an easier time against No. 8 seed Alex de Minaur. As the last Australian standing in both men’s and women’s singles, the crowd was firmly on de Minaur’s side, but Sinner still cruised to a 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 win in under two hours.
A complete performance.@janniksin was at his brutal, balletic and brilliant best to defeat Alex De Minaur 6-3 6-2 6-1 to set up a semifinal date with Ben Shelton.@wwos • @espn • @eurosport • @wowowtennis • #AusOpen • #AO2025 pic.twitter.com/1a3mOeiQpq
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 22, 2025
Now Shelton, appearing in his second career Grand Slam semifinal and first Australian Open semifinal, will have to face down the world No. 1. And unfortunately, history is not on his side. Sinner has played 14 Americans in Grand Slam tournaments and defeated every one of them. Though the odds are stacked against him, Shelton will try to get a win for the USA and make it into his first-ever Grand Slam final.
Then, of course, in the final, Shelton would have to play either Novak Djokovic or Alexander Zverev, who face off in the other semifinal match on Friday.
Earlier on Wednesday, American No. 12 seed Madison Keys made it through to the semis, where she’ll face No. 2 seed Iga Swiatek. In the other semifinal, No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka will take on No. 11 Paula Badosa.
