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Jannik Sinner: Ben Shelton explains why everything has changed from a year ago

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It is a very embattled Ben Shelton who is set to challenge Jannik Sinner on Wednesday for a place in the Australian Open semifinals. Just a year ago, also in Melbourne, the Blue routed the American in three sets, reaching the final of the Melbourne Slam. Shelton feels more confident and assured than in the past, and in a press conference he explained why everything has changed: “My game is very different than it was last year. First of all, the way I execute my net plays will give me a big advantage. The way I vary the pace from the backcourt is very different than a year ago”.

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The'former Italian tennis player has some doubts about the physical condition of the South Tyrolean champion
"Alcaraz I see him in a terrific shape, both tennis-wise and physically", he told the microphones of Rai

"He played at impressive and very high pace in all games"
"Sinner played very well a couple of matches, then had physical issues"
"Now I don’t know how he is"

"This is a tournament that is becoming elimination because of the many withdrawals"
"We need to understand why these guys, who play a much more violent tennis than ours, have all these physical problems"
Even Paolo Bertolucci warned about Sinner: "He’s not as bright as usual"

"We’ll see if later on he regains that responsiveness of the feet that aho struggled a bit to see"

“I was able to get a very tough win in four sets, and I feel I have never hit the forehand ball as well as I have in this tournament. I feel I have very good ball control, and at the same time, I am hitting it harder than ever. I also think my response game has improved significantly. A year ago, I didn’t feel comfortable responding with my forehand, I couldn’t place many responses, I had to use my slice a lot to send the ball to the net. Now I am getting to a point where I feel I am in “wall mode” unable to miss an answer”.

“This is something that helps me a lot because you have to show offensive tennis to beat the best. All these things together make my tennis a little bit’different from a year ago. However, everyone is constantly working and evolving, not just me” explained the American. Shelton in 2025 lost all four matches played against Sinner, and he has been working over the past few months just to get the better of the Blue (and Carlos Alcaraz).

“Whether I prefer to play in the afternoon or in the evening? Honestly, I am open to anything. I&#8217m in a very good mental shape. They moved me to another field and I accepted it without any problem, looking for ways to do my job. My mentality will be the same on Wednesday; I am happy with any choice”. The two will face each other in the evening in Melbourne, at 9 a.m.

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Jannik Sinner will have to be careful; Ben Shelton is more confident than ever. “I’m making good decisions, so I don’t have to run and hit the ball too much. I’m coming up the middle with the right serves, picking the right shots, choosing the right moments, and that’s why I’m winning a lot of points”.

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