Ben Shelton has declared himself “battle-tested” ahead of Friday night’s semifinal showdown against world No.1 Jannik Sinner at Australian Open 2025.

The American advanced to his career second semi at a Grand Slam after defeating Lorenzo Sonego in four sets at Rod Laver Arena on Wednesday, fighting, diving, rolling – and at one point doing a push-up – to wrestle back momentum from the unrelenting Italian.

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“He’s a competitive monster out there, and I don’t think it was about tactics,” said his father and coach, Bryan Shelton. “In these big matches, late in the tournament, it’s more about heart, determination, attitude and character. Ben really showed his character.”

Shelton’s power and Sonego’s panache, especially at the net, had the crowd on its feet applauding multiple times throughout the match, the pair shaking hands following one rally in the second set following Sonego’s volley that could well be the point of the tournament. Even the umpire got involved, laughing and gesturing when a second ball from Shelton’s racquet came his way.  

“There are some things I didn’t do great out there. I probably had one of my – my team was telling me – worst serving days,” Shelton reflected post-match.

“For the first two sets I think we were both trying to find our games a little bit. I haven’t spent too much time on that court. The wind was swirling. I was joking with my team, the first time hitting on that court in the last two years was the five-minute warm-up, so everything takes a little bit of time getting used to.”

Shelton also pointed to Sonego’s inspired play, the Italian playing in his first major quarterfinal.

“After the first two sets I thought he raised his level a lot. For me it felt like he was hitting winners on everything,” Shelton said.

“He punched me in the mouth. He started swinging big and landing a lot of body blows. It was tough to keep up with.

“So, I was just grinding out there, trying to fight through it. I’m just proud of myself to get through. Definitely feel battle-tested. He made a couple unforced errors, kind of opened the door for me. I was able to capitalise.”