Jannik Sinner says his semi-final meeting with Novak Djokovic presents one of the toughest challenges in tennis after defeating Ben Shelton on Wednesday afternoon. “It’s very difficult,” Sinner said. “It’s one of the toughest challenges we have in our sport. It’s great to have Novak playing at this very, very high level. It’s a Grand Slam, it’s always very difficult against Novak. Let’s see what’s coming.”

Sinner’s 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 quarter-final victory over the seventh seed extended his commanding record against Shelton to 9-1, with Sinner winning 22 consecutive sets since the 23-year-old American won their first meeting. Such dominance over one of the best young players in the world indicates just how far ahead Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz are of the rest of the field.

Since a brief hiccup in his third round match against Eliot Spizzirri, where he suffered from cramps in hot conditions, Sinner has not put a foot wrong. The second seed’s stratospheric level marks a stark contrast to Djokovic’s, who was trailing by two sets against the fifth seed Lorenzo Musetti before the Italian was forced to retire at 6-4, 6-3, 1-3 due to a thigh injury.

Sinner has not lost to Djokovic since saving triple match point against the Serb in their 2024 Davis Cup semi-final, winning five matches in a row and clinching their past three meetings in straight sets: “I lost to him I think four or five in a row, so, yeah, he’s just playing on such a high level right now, along with Carlos. They’re the two best players in the world,” said Djokovic.

“I mean, absolute favourite, but you never know. Hopefully I can deliver my A-game for that matchup, because that’s what’s going to be needed at least to have a chance. I wasn’t playing close to my best today, so I’m going to have to change that around.”

Ben Shelton has lost his past nine matches against Jannik Sinner. Photograph: Fred Lee/Getty Images

This victory also extended a number of other winning records for Sinner. He is now the fifth player in the open era to reach six consecutive grand slam semi-finals and the 24-year-old is on a 20-match winning streak, the second-longest of his career. As the two-time defending champion, he has now also won 23 consecutive matches at the Australian Open.

For Shelton, this tournament represented another positive step forward as he reached his fifth grand slam quarter-final and it again took one of the best players in the world to defeat him. Despite his disappointment immediately after the defeat, Shelton believes he will eventually close the gap on Sinner and inflict real damage on the four-time grand slam champion.

“I’m getting to the point now where I’m getting stopped up by the toughest challenge in the game for the most part, and I do think that I’m close to bringing it all together,” said Shelton. “I think it’s just going to take that one time where I do it to kind of get me over the hump. It’s always been that way for me.

“Certainly not discouraged from a performance like this, but I want to see myself get out in front and see what I can do from there in a match rather than falling behind just because I know how I feel when I get out in front at slams. I feel like I’m untouchable. I guarantee the other guys at the top feel the exact same.”