Ben Shelton confesses to ‘looking up’ to Jannik Sinner as he lauds praise on the Italian following their Shanghai clash

In the on-court interview, after the match, Shelton acknowledged the intricacies of the match due to Sinner being his opponent.

Ben Shelton confesses to ‘looking up’ to Jannik Sinner as he lauds praise on the Italian following their Shanghai clash

Ben Shelton and Jannik Sinner (Credit: Eurosport and NDTV)

Young American sensation Ben Shelton defeated Jannik Sinner in an epic 3-set match at the Shanghai Open. After the match, Shelton praised Sinner and admitted looking up to him.

In the on-court interview, after the match, Shelton acknowledged the intricacies of the match due to Sinner being his opponent. “It was definitely a really tough match. I knew it was gonna be that way going in. Jannik’s been on a tear lately,” said the American. The Italian recently defeated World Number 3, Daniil Medvedev in the China Open. His win made him reach his career-high rank of World Number 4.

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Shelton admitted admiring the way Sinner does things. He appreciated the Italian’s tenacity and expressed gratefulness upon sharing the court with him. (2-6)

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“He’s one of those guys in the Next Gen I’ve looked up to,” he added. The 4th round match was one of its kind. Sinner easily took off the first set and tried to stop Shelton on his way to win. But the American made an exceptional comeback in the second round and won easily 6-3.

The decider set toured off toward a tiebreaker. World Number 19, showed his potential and won the match eventually by winning the third set thrilling tiebreaker in 7(7)-6(5).

Explore: Daniil Medvedev believes Sebastian Korda was at advantage with the courts of Shanghai Masters as the Russian makes his feelings clear on the matter

Ben Shelton to face Sebastian Korda in the Quarter-Finals

The Shanghai Masters will feature a fascinating all-American matchup this coming week. Sebastian Korda and Ben Shelton have squared off in the quarterfinals. In the fourth round, Korda defeated Argentina’s No. 20 seed Francisco Cerundolo 7-5, 7-6 (6).

Shelton and Seb Korda (Credit: The Sports Daily and CNN)

Korda, who is seeded at number 26, won his first top-five match in Shanghai as well. A few days ago he defeated Medvedev in the third round 7-6 (8), 6-2. This was his second win over Medvedev this year. Earlier, he defeated him in the third round of the Australian Open.

This is Shelton’s debut at the Shanghai Open. After a strong performance at the Laver Cup and his first-ever Grand Slam semifinal appearance at the US Open, he has been one of the hot topics of the tennis world.

He broke into the top 20 for the first time in his career after a magical run in New York. He also advanced to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, cementing his place on the ATP Tour. It will be interesting to see his run at this China event.

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