Jannik Sinner spoils Ben Shelton’s birthday with Shanghai revenge | ATP Tour

Sinner spoils Shelton’s birthday with Shanghai revenge

Italian awaits Medvedev or Tsitsipas in quarter-finals

October 09, 2024

For the second straight year at the Rolex Shanghai Masters, Jannik Sinner and Ben Shelton met in the fourth round. On Wednesday, Sinner reversed last season’s result to deny the American the biggest win of his career by PIF ATP Ranking on his 22nd birthday.

Sinner scored a 6-4, 7-6(1) win in an entertaining match full of electric shotmaking, improving to 4-1 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head. The World No. 1 has not lost to Shelton since their first meeting last year in Shanghai, when the American came from behind to prevail in a third-set tie-break.

The ATP Tour leader in wins (62) and titles (six) this season, Sinner is now through to his seventh ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final of the year — the most in a single season since Alexander Zverev‘s seven in 2018. The 23-year-old has reached the quarters in all 14 events he has entered this season and will next meet Daniil Medvedev or Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Players to reach 7+ ATP Masters 1000 QFs in a season (since 2014)

Sinner held firm in the face of an electric start from Shelton, who won his first 16 service points and created the first two break points at 2-1 in the opening set. In the ninth game of the first set, the Italian fended off a Shelton overhead to earn his first break point of the match, with the pressure yielding a 5-4 lead before he served out the set to love.

Shelton employed the drop shot to great effect throughout the match, but it was Sinner who snuck one in to fight off a break point at 2-3 in set two. The American again threatened with Sinner serving at 3-4, but this time Sinner leaned on his serve to escape 0/40. Sinner saved all seven break points against him, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

A Sinner special in Shanghai ✨@janniksin | @SH_RolexMasters | #RolexShanghaiMasters pic.twitter.com/bQibf80NO7

— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 9, 2024

All four of their previous Lexus ATP Head2Head meetings included a tie-break, so it was fitting that a tie-break decided the second set in Shanghai. Shelton took the opening point on serve, but Sinner sprinted through the finish line by winning the next seven, finding his best ballstriking at the crucial moment to wrap up the win in one hour, 28 minutes.