Australian Open 2025 Men’s Day 11

Jannik Sinner showed full recovery from the mystery illness which plagued him 48 hours earlier,  with the defending champion crushing the last local hope as he beat Alex de Minaur in the Australian Open quarter-finals on Wednesday.

World No. 1 Sinner shot out of the blocks to complete  6-3, 6-2, 6-1 win in less than two hours , progressing to the semi-finals where he will face Ben Shelton.

The American booked his spot in the final four with a 6-4, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (4)  defeat of Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego. 

Sinner, defending his title here from 2024, did not allow de Minaur room to breath as he delivered a massive blow to Aussie tennis with his one-way win.

The Italian snapped up  the opening set in 39 minutes and took a few minutes less to establish a two-set lead.

He remained flawless for the remainder of the rout, at one point serving up four consecutive love games in a row as he ended with 27 winners and six breaks of serve.

De Minaur, fiancee Katie Boulter already back in Britain, was totally out-gunned, with Sinner easing through on his second match point.

The Italian top seed said his fitness was once again on point. “Today I was feeling everything (in his game). When you break early in each set it’s  little bit easier.

Alex is a tough competitor and many in the crowd came to see him.I just tried to prepare the match in the best possible way.”

Sinner made no excuses for his rapid victory: “These matches can go quickly but they can also change very fast. If my level drops he can take opportunities.

“I’m happy with my performance tonight.”

Sinner said he limited his training on Tuesday after his narrow win while feeling poorly to just 40 minutes and made sure to sleep in today prior to the night match.

Shelton had to work for close to four hours to hold off a charge from Sonego.

The Italian produced 63 winners to the 54 of the American, son of a former ATP player.

Sonego, who is ranked 55th and has never been this far at a major, extended the struggle into a fourth set as he broke when Shelton served for the win leading 5-4 in the third set.

But Shelton finally prevailed in the fourth-set tiebreak, sending a winner to the corner on the first of two match points to reach the second semi-final of his career at a Grand Slam.

“Lorenzo was up in the first two sets,” Shelton said of an opponent who came to the net 90 times.”I just feel relieved right now – he played some ridiculous tennis.

“I’m happy to be through. This has been the favourite match of my career. I’m looking forward to the semi-final. A few in the crowd will be pulling for me.”