World No.1 Jannik Sinner has overcome a slow start and some injury issues to book his spot in the Australian Open final.
The defending champion was down a break twice in the opening set, and saved two set points, before powering to a 7-6 (7-2), 6-2, 6-2 victory over American 21st seed Ben Shelton.
Sinner will now face second seed Alexander Zverev in Sunday’s final after the German benefited from Novak Djokovic’s shock retirement earlier on Friday.
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The Italian will be thankful to get through in straight sets after appearing to struggle at times during some exhausting rallies in the first set and then some hamstring and back issues in the third set.
While it looked straightforward on the scoreboard, it was anything but that in the early stages.
Shelton made a stunning start with two crushing forehand winners in the first game to break Sinner’s serve.
The world No.1 was quickly back on level terms, but found himself behind again when he dropped his serve at 5-5.
Shelton had two set points when he served for the set, but failed to convert either as Sinner forced a tiebreaker.
The American’s game then crumbled as he hit four unforced errors in the first five points to effectively throw away the set.
Sinner rammed home is advantage with a dominant second set that included two breaks of serve.
But there was drama in the third set with the Italian appearing to struggle with cramps.
“He pulled up with a big limp, I’ve got a feeling he might be cramping,” Todd Woodbridge said on Nine.
“He’s certainly dealing with something at the moment,” Lleyton Hewitt added.
Sinner was able to play through the issues, remarkably saving some break points as Shelton fought his way back into the match.
After one lengthy rally, Sinner’s back appeared to spasm when he missed a high backhand.
“He’s in big trouble. He definitely pulls up in a spasm there,” Jim Courier said.
But despite everything going against him physically, Sinner was able to land the crucial break in the fifth game thanks to a double fault and an unforced error from Shelton.
Sinner incredibly broke again during a run of 12 straight points before serving out the match.
“Unfortunately for Shelton, he has had no awareness of what was happening up the other end of the court,” Woodbridge noted.
Hewitt added: “No, I don’t think he realises how close he was to turning this match around and being able to get on top here early and throughout this third set.”
More to come …