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Sinner dismisses health fears to reach semis

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Jannik Sinner hugs Alex de Minaur after the Australian Open quarterfinals

Jannik Sinner is world number one after winning the Australian Open and US Open titles last year (Getty Images)

Australian Open 2025

Dates: January 12-26 Event: melbourne park

Coverage: Live radio commentary on Tennis Breakfast from 07:00 GMT on BBC 5 Sports Extra, plus live text commentary on the BBC Sport website and app

Defending champion Jannik Sinner dismissed concerns about his fitness to defeat local hope Alex de Minaur and reach the semi-finals of the Australian Open.

Sinner battled illness in his previous match but looked strong in a 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 victory over eighth seed De Miñaur.

Two days after being sick before playing Denmark’s Holger Rune and needing to see a doctor, Sinner said he felt “ready” when he woke up Wednesday.

“I feel like when you’re young you recover very quickly, so it’s a little different,” said world number one Sinner.

“I tried to rest as well as possible, not do too many things and try to be prepared for the game.”

The 23-year-old Italian will face American Ben Shelton in the semifinals on Friday.

Shelton, 22, reached the Melbourne semi-finals for the first time with a hard-fought victory over Lorenzo Sonego in just under four hours.

The big-serving American won 6-4, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (7-4) against the unseeded Italian on Wednesday.

Stunning Sinner silences Melbourne crowd

Expectations were high among Australian fans arriving at Rod Laver Arena that De Minaur could cause a shock, especially given the uncertainty over Sinner’s status.

De Minaur came into the match with a terrible record against his opponent, losing all nine of his previous matches and winning just one set in the process.

The 25-year-old was looking to end that unwanted streak and become the first local player since 2005 to reach the men’s singles semi-finals.

But what was expected to be a raucous atmosphere at the night session match did not materialise.

It was a testament to Sinner’s confident display that it largely silenced the majority of the 15,000 fans.

Sinner hit the ball sweetly and consistently to outlast De Minaur in the exchanges.

Recording six breaks of serve and saving only one chance for De Minaur in the second set illustrated his dominance.

“I felt everything today. When you break early in each set it’s a little easier,” Sinner added.

A pale-looking Sinner was visibly shaking in his chair during his fourth-round victory over Rune and benefited from a forced 20-minute break when the net broke.

After beating De Minaur, he said he had “a very easy day” on Tuesday and was fighting with his trainers for only “half an hour or 40 minutes” to keep up.

“I felt prepared for today,” Sinner added.

“When you play a night session you try to sleep as much as you can and eat healthy.”

Shelton reaches his first semifinal in Melbourne

Ben Shelton celebrates a point

Ben Shelton reached the US Open semi-finals in 2023, losing to eventual champion Novak Djokovic (Getty Images)

Shelton took a two-seat lead at Rod Laver Arena, but lowered his level enough to allow Sonego to force a fourth set.

The two were well matched in the set, and both played some entertaining points before Shelton’s strong serve helped him pull away in the resulting tiebreaker.

Shelton, who recorded a tournament-fastest 144 mph serve during the match, said he was “relieved” to have made it through.

“Shout out to Lorenzo because it was ridiculous tennis,” Shelton added after a quarterfinal match that lasted three hours and 50 minutes.

Both players have benefited from a quarter of the draw that was left completely open after the first exits of top 10 finishers Taylor Fritz, Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev.

Friday’s semifinal will be Shelton’s second in singles at a Grand Slam, having lost in the 2023 US Open quarterfinals to eventual champion Novak Djokovic.

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