Jannik Sinner dispatches Ben Shelton to storm into second Australian Open final

The World No 1 prevailed 7-6(2), 6-2, 6-2 in the semi-final encounter to earn his fifth straight win over Shelton and improve his overall head-to-head record against the 22-year-old American to 5-1.

In a close opening set, Sinner twice came from a break down and staved off two set points with Shelton serving at 6-5 before dominating the tiebreak.

The 23-year-old Italian then broke the world No 20 twice in both the second and third sets as he surged into his third Grand Slam final.

Asked how he turned the first set around by Jim Courier, Sinner said: "Yeah, I don't know.

"It was a very tough first set, but very crucial one and I felt like he was serving not at his best today, the percentage was not there where I guess he wanted to and I think we both actually returned better than we served.

"And you know, first sets are always very important, gives you a little bit of confidence. There was a bit of tension for both of us and I'm very happy how I handled the situation today. Happy to be back in the finals here."

Sinner also confirmed the treatment he received from the physio during the third set was for cramping.

"No, just yeah as I said, a lot of tension today, slightly cramps, but also he was suffering today a little bit in his legs, so I tried to move him around, tried to stay a little bit more aggressive, which today, helped a lot," he explained.

"These matches can go very, very long. For three sets, two and a half hours is quite a time. So happy to finish today in three."

Sinner will face World No 2 Alexander Zverev in the Australian Open final on Sunday.

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