Ben Shelton hasn’t dropped a set through two victories at the 2026 Australian Open. The top-ranked American and former Florida Gators defeated home qualifier Dane Sweeny, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2, in the second round on Wednesday night.

The match took just an hour and 42 minutes as Shelton overpowered Sweeny with his serve. Shelton delivered 19 aces and dropped just nine points while on serve. Sweeny never reached a break point, while Shelton successfully broke him five times on 12 opportunities. Shelton had 38 winners and 17 unforced errors.

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In the first set, Shelton and Sweeny traded holds until the former broke the latter in the fourth game. With the math on his side, Shelton didn’t have to push any harder to take the first set, saving some energy for the second. He opened the second set with a break and held all 16 points on serve, breaking Sweeny a second time in the set on Game 5.

The third set saw breaks in the fifth and seventh games to wrap up a dominant win. Shelton tried to get out in front of Sweeny on the opening game of the set but lost a 10-point game. He had some fun with the Aussie crowd after taking down the hometown hero.

“I’m sorry about the outcome today, but I love the chance,” Shelton said. “I love the noise. I love the passion that you guys have for the sport. So, thanks everybody for coming out today, even if you wanted me to go down.”

Up next for Ben Shelton at 2026 Australian Open

Looking ahead, Shelton faces World No. 31 Valentin Vacherot in the third round on Friday night or early Saturday morning. No time or court has been set for the match yet. Vacherot is coming off a 3-1 victory over Rinky Hijikata, where he struck 13 aces and won 82% of his first-serve points. He’s steadily climbed from the No. 204 spot in the ATP rankings since September, holding a 12-1 record over his last 13 matches.

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Shelton holds a 1-0 head-to-head lead over Vacherot, defeating the 26-year-old Monégasques (from Monaco) in a three-set match at the 2022 Las Vegas Challenger.

Should Shelton advance, he’ll face either World No. 13 Casper Ruud or No. 70 Marin Cilic, who upset No. 21 Danil Shapovalov in the second round. Jannik Sinner likely awaits in the quarter-final. Shelton lost to Sinner in the semis last year.

Ben Shelton’s world ranking, official points

Shelton entered the first grand slam of the 2026 season as the No. 7 player in the world and the top-ranked American with 4,000 official points.

He opened the season with a quarter-final appearance at the ATP Auckland 250. He went 1-1 in the tournament, losing to then-World No. 39 Sebastian Baez. However, Shelton made it one round further in the event than he did in 2025, earning him 40 points.

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With that said, Shelton stands to lose a large amount of points in Melbourne after making it to the semi-final of the 2025 Australian Open. Semifinalists earn 720 points in Grand Slam events, and Shelton would have to beat Sinner in the quarter-finals to get there. A loss to Sinner would mean a 360-point dip.

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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida tennis Ben Shelton def. Dane Sweeny in Australian Open Round 2