Ben Shelton has had deep runs at Grand Slams before, but at Australian Open 2025 he is providing joy, excitement and plenty of standout shots.
Shelton’s Slam breakthrough came at AO 2023. Unseeded, he reached the quarterfinals but came unstuck against fellow American Tommy Paul, who went on to lose to eventual champion Novak Djokovic in the semifinals.
MORE: All the results from AO 2025
He could not carry that form into Roland Garros or Wimbledon, but at US Open 2023, Shelton reached the last four. Djokovic, though, had too much for him in the semifinals.
Shelton did not kick on at the majors in 2024, failing to get past the fourth round at any of them. But at AO 2025, he is proving to be a great entertainer – whether through his all-action displays, his shot-making or his positive attitude on and off the court.
READ: 'Competitive monster' Shelton ready for test against the best
His quarterfinal tie against Lorenzo Sonego was one of the matches of the tournament, and his last-16 meeting with Gael Monfils was a thriller too. Next up, he takes on world No.1 and defending AO champion Jannik Sinner.
Emulating Nadal
Shelton is a big-hitting left-hander with a penchant for the spectacular.
But left-handers have not had widespread success at the hard-court Grand Slams in the modern era. Since the AO switched to the surface at Melbourne Park in 1988, Shelton is one of just two left-handed men to have reached the semifinals at both the AO and US Open. The other? The 22-time major champion Rafael Nadal.
Expanding that out to the Open era, Shelton is just the eighth left-handed man to reach the last four at both hard-court majors, joining Nadal, Roscoe Tanner, Rod Laver, Guillermo Vilas, Tony Roche, Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe.
At the AO only, Shelton is only the third left-hander to make the semifinals, after Nadal and Fernando Verdasco.
Shelton, 22, is the youngest left-handed player to reach this stage of an AO since Nadal did so at the age of 21 in 2008, and should he shock Sinner, he will be only the second southpaw after the Spaniard to reach an AO final in the 21st century.
Flying the flag
This is the first time a left-handed American man will feature in an AO semifinal since Ben Testerman in 1984.
But it is not as though male players – right-handed or left-handed – from the United States have enjoyed great success at the AO since the turn of the century. Over the past 25 years, Andre Agassi, in 2000, 2001 and 2003, is the only American man to have won the AO title.
In contrast, three Americans – Agassi (1995), Pete Sampras (1994 and 1997) and Jim Courier (1992 and 1993) – claimed an AO crown between the tournament switching to Melbourne Park in 1988 and the end of 1999.
In fact, no American since Agassi in 2003 has reached the AO final, so Shelton heads into his tie with Sinner aiming to end an unfortunate run for a nation that has given the sport so many iconic male stars.
Shelton is the youngest American man to reach the AO semifinals since Andy Roddick in 2003 (when Shelton was little more than three months old) while he is the youngest player from any nation to reach the last four since Stefanos Tsitsipas in 2019.
Super server
Shelton was not impressed with how he served against Sonego, but his serve is often a real weapon.
The No.21 seed has clocked up the joint-fastest serve speed at AO 2025 – 232 km/h, level with Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard. He has also struck 56 aces, trailing Alexander Zverev by three and Djokovic by four; it is 11 more than Sinner has managed.
Of the semifinalists, only Sinner (82%) can better Shelton (79%) for first-serve percentage won. However, of those four players, Shelton has made the most double faults (17).
If Shelton can get his serve right, then he can certainly test Sinner, who he has lost to four times and only beaten once.
But whatever happens from now on at AO 2025, Shelton has proved he belongs at the top table. He must now ensure this is not another false start.