Defending champion Jannik Sinner dismissed No. 8 seed Alex de Minaur 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 to reach the Australian Open semifinals Wednesday and extend the country's decades-long wait for another homegrown men's singles Grand Slam champion.
Sinner, whose Grand Slam breakthrough came in last year's tournament at Melbourne Park, will take on American and No. 21 seed Ben Shelton with his sights set on a third major trophy after also lifting the US Open title in September.
Defeat extinguished local favorite De Minaur's ambitious bid to end Australia's 49-year wait for a men's champion since Mark Edmondson's triumph, but fans at a packed Rod Laver Arena gave him a standing ovation for his valiant effort.
"I feel like today I was feeling everything," Sinner said. "When you break so early in each set, it's a bit easier. But he's a tough competitor, an amazing player. So many people came here for him tonight, but it was an amazing atmosphere.
"We know each other quite well. We played so many times, we know each other's game, so we try to prepare in the best possible way. These matches can go quickly, but things can change fast."
De Minaur had a mountain to climb from the start, with the 25-year-old needing a first victory over Sinner in their 10th meeting to become the first man from his nation to reach the Australian Open semifinals since Lleyton Hewitt two decades ago.
"The whole country wanted me to do well. I wanted to do well here," De Minaur told reporters. "I would have loved to do more today, but this is what happens sometimes in tennis.
"The negative is after playing some great tennis on home soil and gaining so much, you feel like you've just been slapped across the face, to be honest, to finish off like that."
The early exchanges were encouraging and resembled a game of pinball with some big baseline hitting from both players, before Sinner broke for a 3-1 lead that laid the platform for the 23-year-old to clinch the opening set.
Sinner showed no signs of the illness that made him struggle in his last match as he broke early in the second set, hitting a spectacular swatted crosscourt forehand winner to leave his opponent looking a little demoralized.
"Yesterday was an easy day. I played just 30-40 minutes with my coaches [in practice]," Sinner said. "They gave me a good rhythm. I feel when you're young, you recover fast. It's a bit different. I really like to sleep, so I rested in the best possible way to recover and try to be ready."
Sinner breezed through the first three games of the third set and quickly wrapped up the match, finishing it with one final break of serve.
"I'll survive and keep improving," De Minaur said. "I need to sit with my team and figure out a way to hurt Jannik on the court. That's ultimately the way we've got to look at it and find different ways, because at the moment we don't have it. So back to the drawing board, like I've done my whole career. I don't think that this is my ceiling. I've got more in the tank."
In the earlier match, it was Shelton's opponent, Lorenzo Sonego, who produced the shot of the tournament -- diving to his left for a volley with so much spin that the ball bounced on one side of the net then floated back over to the other -- but it was the American who ended up with the victory.
The left-handed Shelton did some entertaining of his own, including earning cheers by doing a couple of push-ups after tumbling in the concluding tiebreaker, and reached his second Grand Slam semifinal at age 22 by beating the unseeded Sonego 6-4, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (4).
"I'm relieved," Shelton said. "Shout out Lorenzo Sonego because that was some ridiculous tennis."
Ben Shelton reaches his second Grand Slam semifinal after defeating Lorenzo Sonego 6-4, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 at the Australian Open.
As good as Shelton is with his serves and forehands, his improving return game is a significant part of what carried him to the final four at the Australian Open for the first time.
He did just enough in that department, accumulating 11 break points and converting three, against Sonego, an Italian ranked 55th. Shelton entered the match coming through on 52% of his break chances, the highest rate among the eight men's quarterfinalists.
The crowd-pleasing factor was high for Shelton vs. Sonego, who never before had made it this far at a major.
Sonego went 67-for-90 on trips to the net, and his highlight-reel volley came at the outset of the second set. It was so remarkable that Shelton acknowledged the effort by offering a congratulatory handshake.
There was another terrific shot by Sonego in the fourth set, when he raced with his back to the net and spun to hit a hook shot of sorts that resulted in a winner.
It's Shelton, though, who will get to keep playing in Melbourne this year.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.