When it comes to indoor hard court tennis, Jannik Sinner is simply the best. Then there are the rest – including seventh-ranked American Ben Shelton, who was routinely dispatched on Friday as Sinner won his 24th straight match on the hard indoor courts.
It seemed Shelton couldn’t do much as Sinner routined the sublime look and marched to a 6-3, 6-3 victory to reach the semi-finals at the Rolex Paris Masters.
Shelton is a heck of a player on the rise as he navigates his first season as a member of the Top 10. The 23-year-old just qualified for the ATP Finals for the first time this week, in fact, but Friday’s clash with the Italian was more direct proof that the ATP’s best players are a cut above the rest.
Sinner has now won seven matches on the trot against Shelton, and has won each of the pair’s last 17 sets. He improves to 51-6 overall as he reaches his first Paris Masters semifinal.
The 24-year-old Italian has not lost a match on the hard indoor court since the start of his Davis Cup 2023 finals. He will face either Alexander Zverev or Daniil Medvedev in the semi-finals on Saturday.
Sinner broke Shelton’s serve twice in the opening set and lost just five service points as she built a 6-3 lead in 34 minutes.
Shelton, who defeated Andrey Rublev in straight sets on Thursday, won just two of eight second serve points in the set.
Shelton looked headed for a knockdown, but he fought back to earn a break in the fifth, punching a winner and celebrating with gusto as the crowd roared its approval.
His momentum was short-lived as Sinner broke again for 5-3, his fourth break of the evening, but upsetting the former Florida Gator’s fortunes. Sinner converted his second break point of the game when Shelton’s fifth double fault — and first of the set — hit the net.
Shelton drops to 0-14 against the ATP Top-3 with the loss. He will have more chances in November when he makes his ATP Finals debut in Turin.
