Jannik Sinner will face Alexander Zverev in the Australian Open final after the defending champion saw off Ben Shelton in straight sets in Melbourne.
World number one Sinner recorded a 7-6 (7-2) 6-2 6-2 victory over American Shelton on Rod Laver Arena – the stage where he claimed his first major title 12 months ago.
Earlier on Friday, an injured Novak Djokovic was forced to retire after losing the first set against world number two Zverev.
Zverev, still bidding for a first major title after losing his previous two finals, now faces a daunting task against the in-form Sinner in Sunday’s final.
Defending champion Jannik Sinner continued his sizzling Australian Open run with a 7-6(2) 6-2 6-2 victory over American 21st seed Ben Shelton to reach a second straight final at Melbourne Park and book a meeting with Alexander Zverev.
Sinner’s victory made the 23-year-old the youngest man to make multiple finals at the Australian Open since Jim Courier in 1992-93 and kept alive his dream of becoming the first Italian to lift three Grand Slam singles trophies.
Sinner felt a problem in his left leg during a tense third set and had it worked on by the trainer after breaking to go 3-2 up, before some huge winners took him to the finish line and back-to-back major finals after his triumphant US Open run in September.
The women’s final between two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka and Madison Keys takes place on Saturday.
Reigning US Open champion Sinner is the youngest man to reach multiple Australian Open finals since Jim Courier in 1993.
Italy’s Sinner has been near-unbeatable in the past 12 months and will go into the final on a 20-match winning streak, having not lost a match since 2 October last year.
Shelton, bidding to reach his first major final, made a confident start by breaking Sinner in the first game of the match – but that was an advantage the 21st seed surrendered three games later after a series of unforced errors.
Shelton, 22, broke again for a 6-5 lead and served for the set but squandered two set points as Sinner dug in to force a tie-break.
Sinner took control from then on, reeling off five straight points to close out the breaker before quickly going up a double break of serve in the second.
