Ben Shelton gets career back on track at Australian Open

World No. 20 Ben Shelton reached the 2025 Australian Open semifinals Wednesday with a 6-4, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 win over Lorenzo Sonego. 

With the win, the American reached the final four of a major for the first time since the 2023 U.S. Open where he fell to Novak Djokovic in the semifinals. Following that impressive run at Flushing Meadows two years ago, the 22-year-old was expected to make gradual strides toward an elusive major. Instead, the opposite happened. 

In 2024, he suffered early exits at all four slams — Australian Open (third round), French Open (third round), Wimbledon (fourth round) and U.S. Open (third round) — and failed to qualify for the ATP Finals. His only title of the year came at a lowly ATP 250 event in Houston.

Perhaps the new year has brought good tidings for Shelton, who has put away tough opponents like World No. 15 Lorenzo Musetti and veterans Gael Monfils and Sonego en route to the semifinal in Melbourne. 

At the podium on Wednesday, Shelton said he was "relieved" to reach another major semifinal and thanked the Melbourne fans for their support. Looking ahead to a semifinal clash against either Aussie Alex de Minaur or defending champion Jannik Sinner, Shelton sportingly welcomed boos from the Rod Laver Arena crowd. 

"Thanks everybody for coming out, it was one of my favorite matches of my career," Shelton said."If it's the home favorite Alex de Minaur [in the semi-finals], you guys can boo me, throw stuff at my head... I understand. If it's the No. 1 in the world [Jannik Sinner], it'll probably be the same, so I'm looking forward to it. I know I got a few in the crowd who are going to be pulling for me too."