Ben Shelton feels close to Jannik Sinner’s level, after Australian Open semifinal

In the second semifinal of the Australian Open 2025, the US rising star Ben Shelton was one step away from winning the first set, with two set points with his serve in his favor, but Jannik Sinner managed to turn the tide of the set, and dominate the rest of the match, finally triumphing with the final score of 7-6(2) 6-2 6-2.
The young American’s dream of reaching his first career Slam final and beating the Italian, who is currently unbeatable in the Majors on hard courts, lasted just under a set.
At the press conference, the 22-year-old American expressed his regret for the outcome of the match and for not being able to capitalize on his opportunities.
“Honestly, I’m very disappointed. You go in knowing that playing against Jannik is difficult. I’ve made my living on the Tour knowing how to close out sets, having two set points on my serve, it’s really uncharacteristic of me to not win the first set. Obviously, playing against the world number one, you have very few chances.
Sometimes you miss chances and the opponent raises the level. Today I did some things well. I’ll have to look at the match stats, it was probably one of my worst days of service in this tournament, which is disappointing,” he said.

Shelton then analyzed his level compared to the best tennis players on the ATP Tour, placing himself alongside Jannik, Carlitos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic.
“I know I’m close, my level is close. I know I have a lot of things that I need. I believe in myself. The goal for this year is to play every tournament or every two weeks. The greats, Sinner, Alcaraz, Novak, on their bad days win in three or four sets, solving the problems. I’m getting close to being able to do that. I’m disappointed because I wanted to see how the match ended. If I win the first set and it gets to the fourth or fifth. The next time I have a set point, I’ll go and hit the ace,” explained the American.
On his physical condition, the American analyzed: “We all have something, we are in the semifinals of a Grand Slam, we have played a lot of sets. He has played the fewest sets, but I have not had five-set matches either. These are normal things. I was treated a little on the leg in the change of sides, he was treated a little on the leg too. It’s part of the sport, these are things that you have to deal with as you progress in the tournament, nothing serious.”