A quarter-final run in the first Grand Slam of the year is a strong start for most tennis players, but for World No. 7 Ben Shelton, it's a disappointing outcome.
Shelton dropped one set through the first four rounds of the 2026 Australian Open, but he ran into the buzzsaw that is Jannik Sinner in the quarters. The World No. 2 took Shelton down in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. Sinner has now won nine straight matches and 22 straight sets against Shelton. It's not much of a rivalry, considering how one-sided the outcomes have been.
Still, Shelton is improving. Both men acknowledged that fact.
“It’s very tough to play against Ben," Sinner said. "He has a huge serve, and he’s improving so much year after year. Especially after the off-season, you never know how certain players are going to play against you and how they have changed other things.”
Shelton said he's a much "different player than 12 months ago," and it's true. He's worked hard to become a bigger threat at the net and has a more mature approach to the game, at least compared to the past when he played with reckless power. A touch of finesse is now noticeable, but Sinner is still on a different level.
“Jannik is a very tough out. I think that was one of the tough things that I dealt with today," Shelton said. "I felt like, as well as I was hitting the ball, I couldn't get him out of his rhythm as much as I wanted to.”
Shelton is clearly a top-10 player and should hold his ranking this year, barring injury. But he needs to be perfect to break through the "Sincaraz duopoly" atop the rankings. Much of 2026 will be about figuring that out for the former Florida Gator.
Ben Shelton's world ranking, official points
Shelton entered the first grand slam of the 2026 season as the No. 7 player in the world and the top-ranked American with 4,000 official points.
Because he reached the semi-final Down Under a year ago, Shelton is losing 400 points witha quarter-final finish. Shelton remains inside the top 10, but he's down to No. 9 and is no longer the top-ranked American, ceding the title back to Taylor Fritz.
The good news is that he can't drop any further, regardless of how the Australian Open plays out. Alcaraz and Sinner will battle for the top two spots, and Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev have the Nos. 3 and 4 spots locked up. Lorenzo Mussetti (4,405), Alex de Minaur (4,080), Fritz (3,940) and Felix Auger-Aliassime (3,725) are immediately ranked ahead of Shelton, too.
Up next for Ben Shelton
The next major tournament in tennis comes in March at Indian Wells in the BNP Paribas Open, followed by the Miami Open at the end of the month. Shelton spent last February back in the eastern hemisphere reacclimating himself to the American hardcourt scene.
He's likely to return to the Dallas 500 and Acapulco 500, just as he did in 2025. Shelton only made it to the Round of 16 in each of those tournaments last year. Deeper runs can help him recover the 400 points lost at the Australian Open this year. Play begins in Dallas on Feb. 9, and Acapulco starts on Feb. 23.
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida Gators tennis Ben Shelton vs. Jannik Sinner Australian Open
