Melbourne [Australia], January 22 : Italian tennis star and defending champion Jannik Sinner cruised to the semifinals of the Australian Open following a win over local favourite Alex Da Minaur in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.
In the final eight clash, the world number one secured a 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 win over Minaur in a match that lasted one hour and 48 minutes. Sinner entered the match having dropped just one set in all his matches against the Aussie star and displayed a fine display of baseline hitting.
His opponent will be Ben Shelton in the semifinals.
"I feel like today I was feeling everything. On days like this, when you break quite early in each set, it is a little bit easier. He (Minaur) is a tough competitor and an amazing player... We know each other quite well now. We have played each other so many times and we try to understand each other's games, and try to prepare ourselves in the best possible way," Sinner said after the match, according to the ATP website,
"These kinds of matches, they can go quickly, but also they can change very fast if I go down with my level a little bit and he takes opportunities. I am very happy about my performance today," he added.
Sinner showed some physical struggles during his fourth-round win against Holger Rune, but during the quarterfinals, he was back at his best in all aspects, crushing the ball off both wings from the baseline and producing immense power.
"Yesterday was a very easy day," said Sinner, when asked about overcoming the illness which affected him against Rune. "I played just half an hour or 40 minutes with my coaches. They gave me a good rhythm. Talking about general physicality, especially when you are young, you recover very fast. I really like to sleep, so I just tried to rest in the best possible way and not do so many things. I just tried to relax, recover and to get ready for the quarter-final," he added.
Coming to Shelton, he defeated Lorenzo Sonego in the quarterfinals on Wednesday by 6-4, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6(4). Now, Shelton is the second active American player to have reached multiple Grand Slam semis besides Frances Tiafoe and the second active player from the US to reach the Aussie Open semis after Tommy Paul.
After his win, Shelton said, "I feel relieved right now, shoutout to Lorenzo Sonego because that was some ridiculous tennis. I am just really happy to be through, to get my first win on Rod Laver Arena. Thanks, everybody for coming out, it was one of my favourite matches of my career."