American Ben Shelton withstood an attacking onslaught from Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego on Wednesday to claim a place in the semifinals of the Australian Open for the first time with a hard-fought 6-4 7-5 4-6 7-6(4) victory.
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World No.55 Sonego came to the net 90 times – winning 67 of them – and put Shelton under enormous pressure throughout, but the 22-year-old left-hander survived the storm to reach the last four of a slam for the second time.
“I feel relieved right now,” said Shelton, who also made the semis at the US Open in 2023.
“Shout out Lorenzo Sonego, because that was some ridiculous tennis. I’m just happy to go through, to get my first win on Rod Laver Arena. It was one of my favourite matches of my career.”
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Sonego had taken out two of the next generation of stars in beating Joao Fonseca and Learner Tien to reach his first Grand Slam quarterfinal and he didn’t disappoint, his throw-back brand of tennis thrilling the crowd on a breezy afternoon at Melbourne Park.
The 29-year-old produced some outrageous shot-making, none more so than the diving backhand volley that spun back over the net and saved break point in the opening game of the second set.
But he also made some wild mistakes and Shelton was that little bit more consistent, his tally of 33 unforced errors dwarfed by the 55 of Sonego, who nevertheless entertained the crowd, especially with his play at the net.
A wayward forehand from Sonego gave Shelton two break points at 4-4 in the first set and though he saved them both, the Italian then missed a backhand to gift Shelton the break, which he duly consolidated with a 232km/h ace to seal the set, the joint-fastest serve of the tournament so far.
Sonego never stopped coming forward and at break point down in the opening game of the second set, he played perhaps the shot of this year’s Australian Open, diving to play a backhand volley so good that it spun back over the net and prompted Shelton to shake his hand out of pure respect.
That first game of the second set lasted more than 13 minutes but though Sonego saved another break point to come through it, Shelton kept the pressure up throughout the set and after breaking for 4-3, he held to extend his lead to 5-3.
Sonego was not done, breaking back to 15 to level at 5-5, but Shelton always had a look in on the Sonego serve and he broke again to lead 6-5, and this time made no mistake as he served out for a two sets to love lead.
The Italian remained committed to his game plan and continued to attack. Finally, Shelton wilted, broken in the 10th game of the third with a forehand over the baseline.
The fourth set was nip and tuck throughout. Shelton came through a long service game to level at 3-3, but missed a chance to break for 6-5 and had to settle for a tiebreak as Sonego again dug deep.
From 2-1 to Sonego, four points in a row went against serve but the crucial point came when Sonego netted a forehand volley to make it 5-4 to Shelton with two serves to come. The left-hander duly finished things off to reach the last four.
Shelton will play either world No.1 Jannik Sinner or home favourite Alex de Minaur, and said he doesn't mind being the underdog with the crowd on Friday.
“You guys can boo me, you can throw stuff at me,” he joked.
“I’m looking forward to it, I know I’ve got a few people out in the crowd who are going to pull for me too.”