Australian Open, Sinner flies into the semifinals. Musetti drama, forced to retire with Djokovic
Jannik, the defending champion, beat American Ben Shelton in three sets. The Carrarino was leading two sets to nil against the Serb when he got injured and had to leave the court
by Eliana Di Caro
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Relentless, never a lapse of concentration and never betraying an emotion, Jannik Sinner beat Ben Shelton in three sets (6-3, 6-4, 6-4) to reach the semi-finals of the Australian Open, where he is the defending champion. He will take on Novak Djokovic, who was lucky: he was trailing two sets to nil when Lorenzo Musetti was forced to retire with a thigh injury.
Sinner got the better of the American in a tight match but in which he never took any real risks: his opponent always had to chase him in the first two sets and had no real chance, in the third, to overturn the course of the match. The power of his serve, the Atlanta player's essential weapon, was well controlled in response by Sinner who managed the left-hander's aggression by playing him mainly on the backhand and taking away his time. In the third set, it was neck-and-neck until the fourth tie, there was more balance, but then Jannik got three break points and a resounding double fault by the American decided the fate of the match. At 6-4, the Italian raised his fist and smiled at the audience at this Slam: the first he had won in his career in 2024.
"It's very difficult to play with Ben," said the South Tyrolean after the match, "I think he is improving year after year. There are not many left-handers and that makes things more complicated'. Then, commenting on his progress in the tournament, he added that he had "struggled day after day, now I feel stronger physically, I'm happy to play the semis: these are the moments you train for. We are lucky to have Nole at this level at his age. We play for the crowd but also for us. I hope it will be a great battle.
The Musetti Drama
Just before Sinner's match, what we never wanted to see happened on the Melbourne centre court: Lorenzo Musetti, leading two sets to nil against Nole Djokovic in the quarter-finals at the Australian Open, injured his right thigh and was forced to leave the court at the start of the third set, now down 3-1, no longer able to run.
