“It’s a matter of time and work” : Ben Shelton says he feels closer to being a more complete player despite defeat to Jannik Sinner

Ben Shelton faced a quarterfinal defeat at the hands of Jannik Sinner at the 2026 Australian Open. The American was defeated in straight sets, as the four-time Grand Slam champion stormed into his third consecutive Australian Open semifinals.

Ben Shelton was terrific in leadup to the quarterfinals, dropping only set before his battle against Jannik Sinner. The American remains optimistic despite his defeat, stating that he now needs to take the big step and defeat the likes of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.

Ben Shelton stated that he needs to put in more work, and it is only a matter of time until he becomes a complete player. The American was optimistic about his chances in the future, and vowed to take the next step at Major events.

“You know, I’m getting to the point now where I’m getting stopped by the toughest challenge in the game for the most part, and I do think that I’m close to bringing it all together. I think it’s just going to take that one time where I do do it to kind of get me over the hump. It’s always been that way for me. Certainly not discouraged from a performance like this, but you know, I want to see myself get out in front and see what I can do from there in a match rather than falling behind just because I know how I feel when I get out in front at slams.

“So, for me, I think that, you know, it’s a matter of time and work just trying to put all the pieces together, because I’m not complete yet, but I feel myself becoming more complete.”

Ben Shelton also highlighted a big miss in his game against Jannik Sinner in the quarterfinals. He stated that he felt he was too conservative and inconsistent on his second serve, which someone of the Italian’s quality would certainly capitalize on. He also felt that he needed to be more aggressive against the reigning Australian Open champion.

“But I just think that I needed to be a little bit more aggressive and intentional with what I did with the second serve. I think that with other guys, I can get away with putting in the court and either being at neutral or having to scramble a little bit at the first ball and then getting back to neutral or getting on offense. I was doing a really good job of that.“