No 1 seed eases past American 6-3, 6-4, 6-4
‘It’s a grand slam, it’s always very difficult against Novak’
Jannik Sinner is under no illusion about the difficulty of his semi-final meeting with Novak Djokovic after defeating Ben Shelton on Wednesday. “It’s one of the toughest challenges we have in our sport,” he said. “It’s great to have Novak playing at this very, very high level. It’s a grand slam, it’s always very difficult against Novak. Let’s see what’s coming.”
Sinner’s 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 quarter-final victory over the seventh seed extended his commanding record against Shelton to 9-1, with Sinner winning 22 consecutive sets since the 23-year-old American won their first meeting. Such dominance over one of the best young players indicates just how far ahead Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz are of the rest of the field.
Since a brief hiccup in his third-round match against Eliot Spizzirri when he suffered from cramps in hot conditions, Sinner has not put a foot wrong. The second seed’s stratospheric level marks a stark contrast to Djokovic’s, who was trailing by two sets against the fifth seed, Lorenzo Musetti, before the Italian was forced to retire at 6-4, 6-3, 1-3 due to a thigh injury.
