By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Tuesday March 12, 2024
Jannik Sinner defeated Ben Shelton in straight sets to stretch his winning streak to 18.
Photo Source: Getty
Indian Wells – It was a chilly, blustery evening at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. For Jannik Sinner, the hottest player in tennis, it might have been scorching hot.
The Italian’s hot streak hit 18 consecutive wins as he toppled American Ben Shelton on Tuesday evening, 7-6(4), 6-1 to reach the quarterfinals at the BNP Paribas Open.
Sinner had the early edge in the opener, but Shelton, buoyed by a partisan crowd, rallied late with a break in the tenth game to force a tiebreak.
The hard-serving southpaw rallied from 4-1 down in the breaker to level at 4-all, but Sinner stayed calm through the roughest moments and claimed the final three points of the set.
“I think there were many important points, especially in the first set,” Sinner said. “Even before the tiebreak I had to save some breakpoints quite early on. I was up in the tiebreak and I made a couple of mistakes. Then he played a really good point at 4-1 – these are all points which are really, really important.”
The second set was all Sinner, as the World No.3 had break points in all three of Shelton’s service games and broke twice to lock down the victory in one hour and 39 minutes.
Sinner remains undefeated in 2024 (15-0) and stretches his winning streak to 18. He was won 35 of his last 37 matches in total, and will face Jiri Republic of the Czech Republic in the quarterfinals.
“He's playing incredibly well,” Sinner said of the Czech who defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets. “I have to be very focused from the first point, and hopefully I can show some good tennis.”
The 22-year-old has shown nothing but good tennis of late. He racked up his 150th career hard court and became the first player born in the 2000s to achieve the feat.
According to Opta Sports, Sinner is just the second player aged 22 or younger in the Open Era two win his first 15 matches of a season – Sweden’s Stefan Edberg was the other.
Sinner is fresh off his maiden Grand Slam final at this year’s Australian Open, and learning to balance the pressure and expectations that he now faces from the public. He’s handling it superbly, probably due to the fact that he remains focused his processes and his own growth.
“Winning a Grand Slam, it's an incredible feeling,” he said. “I still have it in my mind. But in the other way, we are already months away. I'm playing here, and I have pressure on my shoulders. I mean, this is normal.
“But I also enjoy these kinds of moments on the court. To be around, you know, fans and crowd, it's a good feeling.”