Shelton into 5th slam QF to face Sinner

Ben Shelton reached his  5th career Grand Slam quarter-final rallying past Casper Ruud in a gripping 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 encounter and will next face defending champion Jannik Sinner

It will also be Shelton’s third quarter-final appearance in four visits to Melbourne Park.

The 23-year-old American said after the match “For me, the atmosphere is everything,”

“I’m definitely a competitor. I’m rowdy on the court and I look forward to rowdy crowds. Down here in Australia, there’s no shortage… From my first experience, I fell in love with this tournament. It’s one of my favourites marked down on the calendar every year.”

It’s what you look forward to most in this sport,” Shelton said of his upcoming clash with Sinner, who leads their ATP Head2Head series 8-1, including victory in a semi-final meeting in Melbourne last year.

“It’s where I wanted to be. I wanted to be back here. I wanted to give myself another shot, improve on some things I didn’t do as well last year and leave it all out on the court.”

Once he edged  in  front, the eighth seed raised his game striking a series of mouth watering  winners and finishing points at the net with aplomb.

Shelton won 97 per cent (29/30) of net points during the clash, and dropped just three points on serve in the fourth set as he closed out the match in style.

Ben Shelton is not the only sporting superstar in his family circle

His girlfriend Trinity Rodman  has just become the World’s Highest-Paid Women’s Soccer player signing a $2 million contract extension with the Washington Spirit

Ruud, who reached the fourth round in Melbourne  tor the first time since 2021, will now dash home to Norway, where he and his wife Maria are expecting a daughter any day now.

This is also the first time in the Open era that all of the top six seeds in both the Men’s and women’s draw have reached the quarterfinals.