Australian Open 2025
Date: 12-26 January Venue: Melbourne Park
After defeating Ben Shelton in Melbourne in straight sets, Jannik Sinner will face Alexander Zverev in the Australian Open final.
On Rod Laver Arena, the site where he won his first major title 12 months ago, world number one Sinner defeated American Shelton 7-6 (7-2) 6-2 6-2.
Novak Djokovic, who was injured earlier on Friday, was forced to retire after losing to Zverev, who is also a world number two.
Zverev, still bidding for a first major title after losing his previous two finals, now faces a daunting task against the in-form Sinner in Sunday’s final.
“We’ve had some tough matches in the past. Anything can happen”, said Sinner, who has lost four of his six meetings with Zverev.
Madison Keys and Aryna Sabalenka, two-time defending champion, will play in the women’s final on Saturday.
Since Jim Courier in 1993, Sinner, a reigning US Open champion, is the youngest man to have reached multiple Australian Open finals.
Shelton, who was attempting to win his first major final, started confidently by breaking Sinner in the opening contest, but the 21st seed conceded a third game after a string of errors.
Shelton, 22, broke again for a 6-5 lead and served for the set but squandered two set points as Sinner dug in to force a tie-break.
Sinner quickly rose to the occasion, reeling off five straight points to tie the game before quickly converting to a double break of serve in the second.
Shelton did not want to entertain and captivate the audience because of the daunting prospect of having to come back from two sets down against the top seed.
The American’s excellent reset set off three breakpoints in the third set. But, after they went untaken, Sinner struck what proved to be the decisive blow in game five to extinguish Shelton’s hopes of an unlikely fightback.
Sinner won five straight games in two hours, 36 minutes, despite appearing limp after an awkward landing.
“There was a lot of tension and I had some slight cramps”, Sinner said afterwards.
“These matches can go very long. Three sets in two-and-a-half hours is quite some time, so I’m happy to finish it in three”.
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