Jannik Sinner records 60th Top 10 win of career with victory over Shelton at Australian Open

Jannik Sinner took one step closer to his third consecutive Australian Open title on Wednesday night, defeating Ben Shelton in the quarterfinals of the first major of the year, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.

And just like any time Sinner takes the court these days, the winning streaks kept growing—it was his 18th win in a row against lefties, his 19th win in a row at the Australian Open, his 20th win in a row on the tour and his 25th win in a row against Americans.

But there’s more.

Sinner’s latest victory over the No. 7-ranked Shelton on Rod Laver Arena was also the 60th Top 10 win of his career, and not only is he the first man born in the 2000s to reach that incredible milestone, he’s actually the first man born since 1988 to achieve the feat.

MOST TOP 10 WINS, MEN BORN IN 1988 OR LATER:

• 60: Jannik Sinner [born in 2001]
• 58: Alexander Zverev [born in 1997]
• 53: Juan Martin del Potro [born in 1988]
• 53: Carlos Alcaraz [born in 2003]
• 50: Daniil Medvedev [born in 1996]
• 43: Grigor Dimitrov [born in 1991]
• 40: Kei Nishikori [born in 1989]
• 38: Marin Cilic [born in 1988]
• 36: Stefanos Tsitsipas [born in 1998]
• 34: Taylor Fritz [born in 1997]

You have to go back to men born in 1987 to find anyone with more career Top 10 wins—Novak Djokovic (264) and Andy Murray (105).

Despite winning their last eight matches going into Wednesday night, Sinner definitely wasn’t underestimating Shelton—he had pushed him to tie-breaks in all but one of those eight meetings.

And the American had his chances in this one, including four break points in two separate games. He even fought off nine of the 12 break points Sinner generated during in the match.

But those three break points that Sinner converted—one per set—is all he needed to secure a straight-set victory and his spot in the semifinals after two hours and 23 minutes on court.

The four-time Grand Slam champion finished the match with more than twice as many winners as unforced errors, 33 to 16.

“It’s very, very tough to play against Ben—huge, huge serve, and I feel like he’s improving so much year after year,” Sinner said in his on-court interview. “Especially after the off-season you never know how certain players are going to play against you, and changing a lot of things, so I’m very happy about today’s performance.”

Sinner is now through to the ninth Grand Slam semifinal of his career, and his third straight at the Australian Open, where he'll face Novak Djokovic, who advanced earlier in the day after Lorenzo Musetti had to retire in the third set of their quarterfinal match.

Sinner leads Djokovic in their head-to-head, 6-4, winning their last five meetings in a row—and their last nine sets in a row.