Shelton eyeing slam access after Open dream ends

American showman Ben Shelton is growing in confidence and insists he's not far off challenging the world's best despite having his Australian Open dream ended by Jannik Sinner in straight sets.

Chasing a spot in a maiden grand slam decider, Shelton squandered two set points on serve in the first set and rued the missed opportunity as Sinner shut the gate in Friday night's semi-final.

The top-ranked Italian's 7-6 (7-2) 6-2 6-2 victory came as Shelton landed just 59 per cent of first serves and won only 57 per cent of those points.

But Shelton, currently ranked 20th in the world, believes he's closing the gap on the likes of Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz - who split the four major titles between them last year - and superstar veteran Novak Djokovic.

"On their bad days they're still winning in three sets, winning in four sets. They figure it out," Shelton said.

"I'm getting closer to being able to do that.

"Not having a good serving day or serving week and still having a great tournament is a huge positive for me.

"It's like being able to recognise the flaws in what I did in my game against some of these guys and being able to go back to the drawing board.

"It gives me a lot of confidence."

In his second grand slam semi-final, after falling to eventual champion Djokovic in the last four at the 2023 US Open, Shelton felt Sinner was there for the taking on Rod Laver Arena.

"I'm disappointed because I wanted to see where this match ended up," the 22-year-old said.

"I win that first set, and kind of get into the depths of it, deep in the fourth or the fifth, which should have been possible with where I was at in the first set, serving with set points.

"Next time I'm out there with set points, I'm going to hit the ace."

Shelton will rise to a career-high ranking of 14 on the back of his semi-final appearance at Melbourne Park and expects to build on a positive start to the new season.

He is aiming to become the first American winner of a men's grand slam singles title since Andy Roddick in 2003.

"I want to be able to be on the tennis court and feel like a complete player, that I have no limitations," he said.

"I want to feel that I have a lot of options out on the tennis court.

"I want to continue to compete at the level that I'm competing at with the attitude and mindset that I have, which I think is great right now for me, helping me compete at the highest level I can."