Jannik Sinner recorded yet another win over Ben Shelton yesterday, cruising into the semi-finals of this event for a third straight year.
It marked a supremely routine victory for the Italian, setting up a mouth-watering Australian Open clash with Novak Djokovic for a spot in the final.
However, for the young American, it’s back to the drawing board, once again ejected from a Grand Slam event by one of the world’s top two players.
It’s starting to feel like there’s nothing he can really do to upset either Jannik Sinner or Carlos Alcaraz, and John Isner has questioned whether he’ll ever record a win against them at the Grand Slam level.
Ben Shelton backed to beat Jannik Sinner… eventually
Speaking on his Nothing Major podcast, the big-serving American was hopeful that his compatriot would one day manage an upset, speaking about Ben Shelton’s match-up with Sinner specifically.
He began by stipulating: “I think he can beat Jannik and I think he can beat him in a three-out-of-five set match.”
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Isner then moved on to the prospect of beating them at majors, and instantly became far more sceptical. He continued: “Obviously, it’s a super tall mountain to climb to try and beat one of these two guys; what they are doing at the Grand Slams is insane.
“So it is doable. You have got to take advantage of your opportunity. He has four break points, and he has got to slam the door on those break points right away. It’s very tough; the odds are stacked against him. But if anyone has a puncher’s chance against these two players in my mind, it’s Ben Shelton.”
Sinner has provided an update on his fitness following this match, with Djokovic up next.
Ben Shelton’s worrying head-to-head record vs Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz
For Shelton, there’s still so much to work on if he is to start regularly challenging this duo.
After all, he barely laid a glove on Sinner yesterday, struggling through the majority of his service games without really troubling the Italian.
This marked the eighth straight victory for the former world number one, with Shelton’s only triumph having come in their first-ever meeting back in 2023.
Rate Carlos Alcaraz’s chances of winning the Australian Open out of 10
Worryingly, his poor form extends to his head-to-head with Alcaraz too, having lost all three of their clashes as well.
Interestingly, he has lost to this duo four times in Grand Slams, and other than his injury retirement in the most recent US Open, has been knocked out by one of these two in all of his last four major appearances as well.
It’s clear that if he has genuine aspirations of reaching the pinnacle of this sport, this is a monumental hurdle that he absolutely needs to overcome.
