World No.2 Jannik Sinner continued his wood on America’s Ben Shelton as he bested him 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in the quarterfinal to book his place in the semi-finals at the Australian Open. Sinner has won the last 22 consecutive sets against the American. With this victory, Sinner improved his Lexus ATP Head2Head record to a commanding 9-1 against Shelton.

Shelton had his share of chances in the first two sets but could not capitalise on them. Sinner admitted it is tough to play against Shelton as the left-hander has a potent serve.

“It is very tough to play against Ben,” Sinner said. “He has a huge, huge serve and I feel like he is improving so much, year after year. Especially after the offseason, you don’t know how certain players are going to play against you and change lots of things. I am very happy with today’s performance.”

Sinner will take on 10-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic in the semifinal. The Italian had earlier defeated the Serbian at the Australian Open (2024), Roland Garros (2025) and Wimbledon (2025).

“These are the moments you practise for,” Sinner said on facing Djokovic. “I will wake up in the morning and will look forward to playing a good match hopefully. If you want to win you have to play at your best. In the past I have had great lessons and it doesn’t really matter the result, it improves you as a player and a person. We are lucky to still have Novak here, playing incredible tennis at his age.”

Djokovic, on the other hand, qualified for the last four of the Happy Slam after Lorenzo Musetti was forced to retire because of injury after the Italian won the first two sets.