No sweat for Sinner
MANILA, Philippines — Defending champion Jannik Sinner shattered home hopes Wednesday by crushing Alex de Minaur in a straight-sets rout to tee up an Australian Open semifinal against Ben Shelton.
The Italian world No.1 showed no signs of the illness that hampered him in his last match to emphatically fly past the eighth seed 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 on Rod Laver Arena.
He will meet stubborn American Shelton for a place in Sunday’s final against either 10-time champion Novak Djokovic or second seed Alexander Zverev.
Shelton, seeded 21, battled past another Italian, the unseeded Lorenzo Sonego, 6-4, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) to make the Melbourne Park last four for the first time.
The writing was on the wall for De Minaur with Sinner winning all nine of their previous meetings – the Italian had also won all 20 of his last matches against Australians.
De Minaur was given a glimmer of hope after Sinner battled illness in his Last-16 clash, where he admitted he was “not there health-wise” and had been “a bit dizzy at times” in hot weather.
Five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek swept past Emma Navarro into an Australian Open semifinal against Madison Keys to match her best performance in Melbourne.
The Polish second seed was phenomenal on a gusty day at Rod Laver Arena, powering past the eighth-seeded American 6-1, 6-2.
It equaled her best result at the Australian Open from 2022 when she fell to eventual runner-up Danielle Collins in the last four.
Keys is her next hurdle after the American 19th seed sent Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina packing 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
“Madison is a great player and experienced so you never know,” Swiatek said.
Swiatek is totally focused on the end goal.
One of those goals is re-taking the number one world ranking she lost last year to Aryna Sabalenka when slapped with a one-month doping ban.
If Saba-lenka falls in her semifinal against Paula Badosa on Thursday, the Pole will again rise to the top.
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