'Really proud' Sinner beats Shelton for 18th win in a row to reach quarters

Jannik Sinner won his 18th match in a row as he beat Ben Shelton to reach the quarter-finals at Indian Wells.

The world No. 3 was able to absorb and counter Shelton’s firepower as he won 7-6(4) 6-1.

He is now 15-0 for the year and has reached 150 hard-court wins.

“For sure it was a different matchup. I knew that obviously playing against him, there’s not so much rhythm,” said Sinner, who next plays 32nd seed Jiri Lehecka.

“But I think I can be really proud about how I played.

“I just tried to stay positive. There were tough moments, especially in the first set. I’m really happy that I won that, and obviously started really positive in the second set, which gave me a lot of confidence.”

Sinner, who is seeking his second career Masters title, saved four break points in the fourth game against Shelton and then broke for a 3-2 lead.

Big-server Shelton saved a set point and then broke to get back to 5-5.

He recovered from 0-40 down in the next game to get to a tie-breaker, which was in the balance at 4-4.

But from there Sinner won 15 of the next 17 points to take control of the match.

Shelton could not recover and Sinner closed out the win with a love hold.

Alexander Zverev will face Carlos Alcaraz in an Australian Open quarter-final rematch after beating Alex de Minaur in three sets.

He will aim for a repeat after ended De Minaur’s seven-match winning run with a 5-7 6-2 6-3 win in two hours and 47 minutes.

“I don’t remember having a better match in wind than I did today,” said Zverev.

“When you’re down a set and a break, you have to figure it out if you’re going to continue or you’re going to be off the court in 20 minutes. I had to play differently from both sides and I managed it well today.”