Things looked bleak for Ben Shelton early Monday, but the highest-ranked American left rallied to push himself into the quarterfinals at the event for the third time in his career.
It didn’t look like that would be the case early, as Shelton dropped the first set to Casper Ruud, who won 6-3. Given the tight matchup — Shelton came into the matchup ranked No. 8, Ruud ranked No. 12 — winning the first set could have been a major advantage for whichever player snagged an early lead.
But Shelton got his game together from there. He won the next three sets — and the match — against Ruud, taking the second set 6-4, the third set 6-3 and the fourth set 6-4 to pick up the win.
While Shelton has never won the Australian Open, he’s reached the quarterfinals at the tournament two other times. In 2023, he lost to fellow American Tommy Paul in the round. Last year, Shelton overcame Lorenzo Sonego to move on to the semifinals for the first time in his career. He lost in the round, however, falling to Jannik Sinner.
Shelton will have a chance at revenge in two days, though, as he’s once again set to take on Sinner in the semifinals Wednesday.
Sinner managed to win in straight sets over Luciano Darderi on Monday, much to Darderi’s frustration. The Italian launched a ball into the stands following a first-set loss against Sinner.
Elsewhere on the men’s side, Novak Djokovic advanced to the quarterfinals on a walkover. His opponent, Jakub Menšík, was forced to pull out of the Australian Open due to an injury. It marks the 16th time in his career Djokovic has reached the quarterfinals at the event.
Iga Swiatek, Elena Rybakina cruise to wins
The two high-ranked woman to take the court early Monday had no trouble with their opponents. Iga Swiatek, the women’s No. 2, easily dispatched Maddison Inglis on Monday, winning 6-0, 6-3. Similarly, Elena Rybakina had no issue taking down Elise Mertens, winning 6-1, 6-3.
Those wins set up a head-to-head matchup between Swiatek and Rybakina in the semifinals. It will mark the 12th time the two players have met on the court. The two are pretty evenly matched, with Swiatek holding a slight 6-5 head-to-head lead over Rybakina over their careers.
While Rybakina has reached the finals at the event before, she’s never won it. Swiatek, for all her success in the sport, is still searching for her first Australian Open title, and has never advanced past the semifinal round.
Read the full article here