Florida’s Ben Shelton in quarterfinals in Australian Open debut

The following cease on Ben Shelton’s spectacular debut run on the Australian Open would be the quarterfinals.

The 20-year-old NCAA champion from the College of Florida pulled out a 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4), 6-2 victory over J.J. Wolf in an all-American matchup in John Cain Area at Melbourne Park on Monday.

Shelton is enjoying in solely his second Grand Slam event — and he’s on his first journey exterior of the USA in his life.

He joins Sebastian Korda to offer the U.S. no less than two males within the quarterfinals in Australia for the primary time since 2007.

Yet one more American might be a part of them as a result of Tommy Paul was in fourth-round motion Monday, too, going up towards No. 24 Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain.

Additionally reaching the lads’s quarterfinals with a five-set win Monday was No. 5 seed Andrey Rublev.

The Russian stored coming again, stored coming again, stored coming again — from down 5-2 within the fifth set, then dealing with a pair of match factors whereas trailing 6-5, then from 5-0 and 7-2 within the first-to-10 concluding tiebreaker — earlier than lastly placing away No. 9 Holger Rune 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (11-9) at Rod Laver Area.

Rublev received it when his backhand return slipped off the web twine and barely, simply barely, made it over onto Rune’s aspect of the court docket, not possible to succeed in. Rublev dropped to his again on the baseline and raised each arms as if to say, “Sorry!” — or maybe “Sorry. Not sorry!” — whereas Rune additionally flung away his racket.

Within the quarterfinals, Rublev will meet both 21-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic, the final man within the subject with so many as one main trophy, or Australian Alex de Minaur, whereas Shelton’s subsequent opponent goes to be Paul or Bautista Agut.

Within the girls’s quarterfinals, will probably be Magda Linette — into the quarterfinals of a Slam for the primary time at age 31 and in her thirtieth look at a significant — towards Karolina Pliskova, and Aryna Sabalenka towards Donna Vekic.