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Jannik Sinner v Ben Shelton: Prediction, Tips and Odds

Jannik Sinner brushed off reports of an illness to sweep aside Alex de Minaur in the quarter-finals of his Australian Open title defence and the world no.1 is a short price to make mincemeat of semi-final opponent Ben Shelton.

Sinner, a champion in both Melbourne and at the US Open in a glittering 2024 season, continues to set the benchmark on the ATP World Tour.

Therefore, it's likely going to take a herculean effort from Shelton, or anyone else, to stop him from claiming back-to-back titles Down Under.

The 23-year-old has lost just one match since the start of his run to the New York title, losing to Carlos Alcaraz in a third-set tiebreak in a pulsating China Open final, and he's 1/20 to extend his winning run to 20 consecutive matches, as well as 20 straight wins in hard-court Grand Slam matches.

Shelton has benefited from some luck on the way - fourth-round opponent Gael Monfils was forced to retire with injury and he then faced an unseeded quarter-final rival in Lorenzo Sonego. It's no surprise to see him priced up at 10/1 as he bids to cause a huge upset.

Jannik Sinner v Ben Shelton

Jannik Sinner v Ben Shelton betting tips and predictions

Jannik Sinner to win & over 32.5 games - 1/1

It would take a brave punter to take on Sinner under any conditions at present and, just as it looked like the world no.1 might be struggling with an illness, he put those fears to bed in no uncertain terms with a 6-3 6-2 6-1 demolition of De Minaur on Wednesday.

Shelton is a very different player to De Minaur and the power-packed American has demonstrated an appetite for competition on the biggest stages having reached the semi-finals of the US Open in 2023, where he found Novak Djokovic too strong.

The American's run to the last four in Melbourne has been somewhat fortuitous, though, and he's tended to come up short in previous matches against Sinner, winning their first meeting in Shanghai in 2023, but subsequently losing to the Italian in Vienna, Indian Wells, Wimbledon and a Shanghai rematch.

Sinner has looked fallible on occasion in Melbourne, most notably in his round-of-16 win over Holger Rune, but that was reportedly when he was feeling unwell and he still managed to pull through in four sets against a dangerous opponent.

But, while the head-to-head is one-sided in Sinner's favour, the pair have played several competitive sets in their previous matches, with Shelton taking his opponent to tiebreaks on all five occasions, the last four of which went the way of the Italian.

Sinner is odds-on to prevail in straight sets but, if a couple of those sets go the distance - as has been the theme in previous clashes - the total match games could still exceed the 32.5 line regardless of whether Shelton wins a set or not.

Over 1.5 total tie breaks in match - 4/1

The pair have played out numerous tiebreaks in past meetings and it could pay to back their semi-final clash to feature at least two sets which go the distance. 

Sinner has not been required to go to a breaker since he won two of them in his first-round triumph over Nicolas Jarry, but Shelton has been involved in at least one in each of his five Melbourne matches and there were three in his fourth-round win over Monfils.

The 22-year-old finished off quarter-final rival Sonego 7-4 in a fourth-set tiebreak, too, so there could be more tight sets than the betting market suggests.

Read more tennis betting tips and predictions on site.

Jannik Sinner v Ben Shelton odds

Jannik Sinner - 1/20
Ben Shelton - 10/1

View the full market and more odds for Jannik Sinner v Ben Shelton on site

This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.

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