Key events
In the women’s draw, Iga Swiatek beat Emma Navarro 1 and 2; Madison Keys beat Elina Svitolina 3-6 6-3 6-4.
Those two meet tomorrow following Aryna Sabalenka v Paulo Badosa, and I can’t wait for either. Keys has a massive game and her top level is serious; if she’s on, she’s every chance of beating Swiatek, having found better control and patience without compromising power.
Badosa, meantime, has a huge game and might finally have worked out how to manage it. She’ll have seen how Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova outhit Sabalenka yesterday and fancy she can do the same, without starting slowly and fading at the end.
Or, in other words, the draw has been kind to us.
Back to Shelton, he’s a fantastic athlete with a brilliant mentality, excellent serve and nuclear forehand. The problem he has, though, is his backhand – Coach Calv notes “there’s some mad stat that if you make him play one the first shot of a rally, he only wins the point 15% of the time or something.”
I’d actually back him to beat De Minaur; it’s hard to see what he has that Sinner doesn’t.
Next on Laver: Jannik Sinner (1) v Alex de Minaur (8).
“Shout out Lorenzo Sonego because that was some ridiculous tennis,” he begins, laughing. He’s really happy to be through and win his first match on Laver, one of his favourites in his career.
He accepts that if he meets Demon next the crowd can boo him, chuck stuff at him and all the rest, and expects the same if he’s against the world no 1.
Then, of course, he finishes with a fraternal “Let’s go baby!” and he’s so much fun; he’s got such competitive charisma.
Wild celebrations from Shelton, as you might expect, and here he is…
Ben Shelton (21) beats Lorenzo Sonego 6-4 7-5 4-6 7-6(4)
A body-serve sets up the point, finished by Shelton with two colossal inside-out forehands. He meets Sinner or De Minaur in his first grand slam semi.
A big serve, a return into the net, and at 6-4, Shelton has two match points!
Shelton hurls himself after a drop, somehow finding the strength to get under it and flip it back – Sonego puts away easily – before splattering the hoardings in crowd-pleasing fashion. He does press-ups to bank the laughs, then Sonego misses a volley and at 5-4, he’s two serves away from the last four!
Sonego just won’t go away and more than that, he’s playing well; we’re 3-3 in the breaker.
Email! “I know that World No 1 vs Local Boy is the big draw today, but the attendance at the Shelton-Sonego quarter-final is embarrassing,” emails Keith Shaw. “Do you know how the ticketing works?”
I do not, but I imagine the relative emptiness is because day-sesh people have chipped. At Wimbledon, you have queues to fill the gaps, but maybe they don’t operate that system; maybe there’s no demand for it.
And Shelton serves out to 15 for his breaker.
Sonego survives a break point to hold for 6-5 in the fourth, guaranteeing himself a tiebreak. This is a proper physical tussle.
But first, we’ve the end of Ben Shelton (21) 6-4 7-5 4-6 5-5 Lorenzo Sonego. Good!
Preamble
G’day and welcome to the Australian Open 2025 – day 11, night session!
There’s something cartoonish about today’s tussle: the big, powerful defending champ takes on the little, scurrying local hero. Except in the cartoon version, it’s the smaller man who wins, whereas reality is somewhat different.
Jannik Sinner and Alex de Minaur have played each other nine times, and Sinner has won on each occasion. He hits it harder and more accurately; he serves better, returns better and volleys better. There’s no shame in that – he does almost all of those things better than almost everyone else in the world – but consequently, it’s not easy to find De Minaur a route to victory.
And yet he’s never had a better chance. Sinner was ill through his last match, so might not be fully recovered; De Minaur is fitter than in some time; the crowd are on his side; the cooler night is better for his indefatigable chasing; and what if the cartoon is not a series but a film?
OK, we’re reaching. But regardless of who wins and how, this should be a terrific contest. Let’s go!
Play: 7.30pm local, 8.30pm GMT
