Jannik Sinner Races Into Semis As Iga Swiatek Closes On First Melbourne Crown

Defending champion Jannik Sinner raced into the Australian Open semi-finals on Wednesday in imperious fashion after Iga Swiatek was equally ruthless to close on a first Melbourne crown. Italian world number one Sinner swept aside an out-classed home hope Alex de Minaur 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 to silence Rod Laver Arena and set up a meeting with 21st seed Ben Shelton. The other semi-final is between 10-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic and world number two Alexander Zverev, with both taking place on Friday.

Sinner had dizzy spells in the scorching heat of the afternoon during his four-set win against Holger Rune on Monday.

But in much cooler evening conditions the 23-year-old was back to his brilliant best against eighth seed De Minaur, who has still never beaten Sinner in 10 matches.

"Today I felt like I was feeling everything," said Sinner.

"Days like this and you break quite early in each set, it's a little bit easier."

Sinner is bidding to defend a Grand Slam title for the first time after beating Daniil Medvedev in the final last year. He also won the US Open last year.

De Minaur admitted he had no answers on the night, saying: "He was bloody good tonight."

The 22-year-old American Shelton booked his place in the semi-finals in Melbourne for the first time with a battling 6-4, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) win over unseeded Italian Lorenzo Sonego.

Left-hander Shelton put in an all-action display to match his best performance at a major, having reached the US Open semi-finals in 2023.

Shelton unleashed the joint-fastest serve of the tournament, a monster ace clocked at 232kph (144mph), and afterwards turned his fire on the post-match televised interviews that the winners do on court.

"I feel like broadcasters should be helping