Ben Shelton Qualifies for His First Australian Open Semifinal at Age 22
Ben Shelton, a 22-year-old from Atlanta, has advanced to his first Australian Open semifinal after overcoming Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego with a score of 6-4, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (4) on Wednesday in Melbourne.
This marks Shelton’s second appearance in a Grand Slam semifinal, having previously faced eventual champion Novak Djokovic of Serbia at the 2023 U.S. Open, where he was defeated.
In the match on Wednesday, Shelton demonstrated a more consistent ground game compared to his opponent. Although Sonego recorded a marginally higher number of winners, 63 to Shelton’s 54, he also made significantly more unforced errors, tallying 55 against Shelton’s 33.
“I feel relieved right now, shoutout to Lorenzo Sonego because that was some ridiculous tennis,” Shelton explained postmatch on the court. “I’m just really happy to be through, to get my first win on Rod Laver Arena. Thanks everybody for coming out, it was one of my favorite matches of my career.”
The 21st seed of the event, Shelton, has faced only one seeded opponent during the current fortnight, achieving victory over No. 16 Lorenzo Musetti from Italy in the third round. His opponent in the semifinals will be determined by the outcome of the final quarterfinal match on Wednesday, which features reigning champion and top seed Jannik Sinner of Italy against No. 8 seed Alex de Minaur from Australia.
Shelton has secured only two ATP tournament titles, both from relatively minor competitions: the 2023 Japan Open held in Tokyo and the 2024 U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships in Houston. Last year, he did not advance to the quarterfinals in any of the four Grand Slam tournaments.
