Australian Open semi-final. But just as I type that a wild forehand goes wide and it’s 15-all on Shelton’s serve. Make that 15-30. And those two points sum up the task for Shelton tonight: he needs to show measured, controlled aggression, he can’t just swing at everything. A third unforced error in a row and it’s break point Sinner at 30-40. Shelton steadies himself and gets to his advantage, is pulled back to deuce not once but twice, but a forehand cross-court pass from Shelton and an errant return from Sinner allow the American to back up the break.Jannik Sinner won the toss and will serve first. Ready? Let’s play. Shelton, perhaps emboldened by Zverev upsetting the odds earlier, smashes away a winner to take the first point. The American bides his time in the next rally, resisting the urge to pull the trigger as he’s usually tempted to do, and Sinner makes the error! 0-30. A poor miss from Shelton and it’s 15-30, but Sinner slaps a backhand into the net and here are two break points at 15-40! Sinner has not got going at all. And he’s left rooted to the spot as Shelton rips a forehand winner down the line on the second break point!
than she did. Sinner’s gone for a more subdued pastel yellow and white number.Shelton was angered by the on-court interviewer telling him after his quarter-final that he’d have little support from the crowd today … but he gets a good reception from the fans, even though Sinner gets a louder one. Not that Shelton probably heard either, as he’s got his headphones on.Australian Open next year. “I don’t know. There is a chance,” the 37-year-old said when asked if his retirement against Zverev could be his final appearance in Melbourne. “Who knows? I’ll just have to see how the season goes. I want to keep going. But whether I’m going to have a revised schedule or not for the next year, I’m not sure.”
On his trial coaching partnership with Andy Murray, he said: “We are both disappointed with what just happened, so we didn’t talk about the future. I’ll definitely have a chat with Andy and thank him for being here with me. I’ll give him my feedback, which is positive, and see how he feels and we will make the next step.”
Alexander Zverev on Friday after losing the first set.
The Serb suffered an injury to his groin area in his quarter-final against Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz on Tuesday and took to the court with both dark tape and a white bandage enveloping his upper thigh.
He revealed afterwards he had not hit a ball since his previous match, and the pain proved too much. “I did everything I possibly can to basically manage the muscle tear that I had,” Djokovic said.
“Medications, and this strap, and the physio work helped to some extent today, but towards the end of that first set, I just started feeling more and more pain, and it was too much to handle for me at the moment. So, yeah, unfortunate ending, but I tried.”
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Australian Open, it appears that, indeed, a group of American men’s players are set to make their mark (US women, it hardly needs to be said, have had no such problems making an impact at majors). If Shelton were to make the final it would be the first time since the 2005 Wimbledon (Roddick) and 2005 US Open (Andre Agassi) that American men have appeared in back-to-back grand slam finals.
This Australian Open has showcased the sudden depth and promise of a host of young Americans, including 19-year-old Learner Tien who defeated Daniil Medvedev on his way to the quarter-finals, and Alex Michelsen, 20, who also reached the fourth round after knocking off two top-20 seeds. They, along with veterans Fritz and Frances Tiafoe, comprise a coterie of American men’s players who are morphing into a cohesive, friendly group that are pushing each other to new heights.
Of course, for Shelton to reach Sunday’s final, there is that nagging detail, that one small matter, of having to overcome the ultimate challenge in present-day tennis – beating Jannik Sinner on a hard court. The overpowering, world No 1 has shown no signs of vulnerability so far in Melbourne this year, and it will take a high-risk, highly focused performance from the southpaw Shelton to pull off the upset. The pair have played five times, with Shelton winning their first encounter but Sinner has won the last four meetings and has taken nine straight sets off Shelton.
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his retirement against Alexander Zverev ensured that he won’t be claiming grand slam No 25 on Sunday, Jannik Sinner now gets the chance to seize some of the narrative (though I’m sure the fallout from Djokovic being booed will carry on for a while yet).
Sinner, the defending champion and world No 1, is the strong favourite to see off the big-serving American Ben Shelton, who’s more often than not described as the big-serving American prodigy Ben Shelton, even though he’s only a year younger than Sinner. Both had breakout runs to a first slam semi-final in 2023 – but while Sinner then came of age last year, winning not only the Australian Open but also the US Open along with six other titles and rising to the top of the rankings, Shelton stalled, failing to get beyond the fourth round of a major. With his explosive personality and forehand almost as nuclear as his serve, it’s good to have the 22-year-old back in the mix.
This match offers up a compelling contrast between the right-handed Sinner and the southpaw Shelton, Sinner’s serenity and Shelton’s showmanship, and Sinner’s metronomically precise baseline game and Shelton’s high-octane style – though the world No 20 has deliberately reined things in a bit this fortnight.
“I don’t think I’ll be redlining,” Shelton says. “If anything, I’ve been, in terms of my baseline play, a bit more conservative this tournament, OK with going deep in rallies. Probably have to step that up a little bit in the semi-finals. I think that I’m figuring out ways to make guys uncomfortable without just playing at my upper limits and slapping.”
Slapping definitely isn’t the way to beat the world No 1 – Shelton needs to balance risk with reward and pick his moments to attack, while breaking Sinner’s baseline rhythm by coming to the net, where he’s very adept. As well as routinely sending down those serve bombs, of course. It’s still a tall, tall order though – especially when Sinner hasn’t been beaten on a hard court at a slam since 2023.
The players will be on court at: 7.30pm Melbourne time/8.30am GMT.
That, though, is where I’ll leave you.
This afternoon hasn’t gone the way any of us would have predicted but it’s been a pleasure to have your company.
I’ve been Joey Lynch and I’ll leave you in the very capable hands of Katy Murrells.
Ben Shelton and Jannik Sinner will soon be making their way onto Rod Laver Arena, the American underdog seeking to add a new, remarkable chapter to his evolution. This from Tim Joyce is very good on the 21st seed.
On Kia Arena, Xiaohui Li and Ziying Wang have taken out the opening set of their women’s wheelchair doubles final against Zhenzhen Zhu and Manami Tanaka, 6-2.
Amanda Munns has written in, none too pleased with the Melbourne crowd’s treatment of Djokovic.
“What an ignorant and disrespectful action by members of the crowd at that match. I guarantee you they would never have done that if had been Roger or Rafa. They should not do it for anyone!
“I’ve been a tennis fan for over 50 years and it greatly saddens me to see how things have changed. Djokovic should be respected for what he has achieved and what an excellent ambassador he has been for the sport.”
In case you missed it yesterday, the Australian Open women’s final will see Aryna Sabalenka look to defend her crown against Madison Keys.
In the first of the semifinals, Sabalenka defeated good friend Paula Badosa 6-4 6-2.
Next up, Keys rallied back from losing the opening set to defeat 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (10-8) Iga Świątek.
For the sixth tournament running, British pair Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid have triumphed in the final of the men’s wheelchair doubles, downing Daniel Caverzaschi and Stephane Houdet 6-2 6-4.
The women’s wheelchair doubles final has just started on the Kia Arena, Manami Tanaka and Zhenzhen Zhu taking on Xiaohui Li and Ziying Wang.
Alas for Tanaka, it appears that her advancement to the final will prevent her from attending Mamoru Miyano’s final show in Funabashi.
Given the boo-birds are probably going to become a talking point, the timing of this piece from Emma John is quite appropriate.
The crowds at the Australian Open have become something of a talking point across this month, and John McEnroe, John Millman, and Jelena Dokic pulled no punches on the Channel Nine panel after Djokovic was booed off court after.
“He’s won this 10 times. I mean, come on. Clearly, something was up. The guy’s a battler. I mean, him and Rafa [Rafael Nadal] have dug deeper than any two players I’ve ever seen — mentally, physically, you name it. To do that, because he decided that he couldn’t go on after what he’s done here. I thought it was absolutely ludicrous. Honestly, that was depressing. That was almost as depressing to seeing the end of the match, honestly; to see him do that, him put his thumbs up and have [boos]. It’s too bad.
Millman well and truly had the boo-birds in the crowd in his sights, saying they crossed a line.
The crowds have been questioned a lot and rightly so. I think it’s a bit of a shambles. Some of the behavior has crossed the line and that one takes the cake for me. This is a guy that’s won it ten times. Have some respect. He’s one of the all time greats, if not the greatest to play it. He’s definitely the greatest to play on this court. I don’t care how much you’ve spent on your ticket. Have some respect.
Dokic, for her part, was clear in her view that Djokovic wouldn’t have pulled out unless he had to.
We’ve seen Djokovic in his career when he’s had injuries… he’s played through them, played through the tournament, gone on and hasn’t retired in matches.
Only a really heavy knee injury at the French Open took him out last year, where he could play the quarter-final. So if he decided that he couldn’t play, he really couldn’t play.
Jack Snape was at Rod Laver Arena for the semi-final and has filed his immediate reactions.
On the call for the match and taken aback as anyone by Djokovic’s retirement, John McEnroe gave his views that and Zverev’s progression on Channel Nine.
We were all wondering how he’s going to hold up after the match against Carlos [Alcaraz]. But I thought he actually was moving pretty well. Managing things. Clearly, Zverev was tight — trying to sort of get the nerves out. It was a very closely contested first set, hour and 20 minutes set. I was almost more shocked when he missed the volley. I’m like, no way he’s gonna miss that volley, right? Then he missed it. Next thing, the only guy in the stadium that was happy was Zverev! The look in [Zverev’s] eyes was like ‘What?’ We were all like ‘Oh my God!’
But I’ll tell you something, it brings me back, the first time I ever won a major, I got a couple of defaults. And I bet there’s no one here on this [panel] that would know that. You don’t know. In 10 years’ time, if Zverev wins this, no one is going to know or care that Novak didn’t play. He got through. It’s not his fault.
“But that’s a bummer. It was starting to get very interesting. Zverev’s had rollercoaster ride trying to get to win a major and he’s been so close. [He was] serving for the match when he played [Dominic] Thiem, he was up two sets of one against Carlos in the French [Open] [and] he ran out of gas. He figured out that he needed to be able to have more left in the legs to make it through. It looked as if he was… going out there [do] a war of attrition type thing [against Djokovic], like he’s going to break him down. Because he was very passive in my book, more passive than he should have been.
We’ll continue to bring the fallout of Zverev moving into after Djokovic’s shock retirement but there is other tennis happening today beyond the men’s singles.
Today has also seen the women’s final locked in, the top seeded duo of Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend bouncing back after dropping their opening set to defeat Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 6-3 in the first semi-final.
They will face the third-seeded team of Su-Wei Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko, who have just beaten second-seeds Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe 7-6 (7-3) 3-6 6-3 out on Margaret Court Arena.
Source: theguardian.com
