Ben Shelton jokingly says 'boo and throw stuff at my head' during Australian Open semi-final

Ben Shelton jokingly said that the crowd can throw stuff at his head and boo whatever the outcome of who he will face at the semi-final with either likely to carry favour over the American at the Australian Open.

After a thrilling win over Lorenzo Sonego 6-4, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6(4) to move into the last four, he now has the tough test of facing either Jannik Sinner or Alex de Minaur so either the World No.1 or home hero.

His message is very much nothing's personal as he navigates facing one of the two big hitters and that they can do what they like as a result. But he also called the tie against Sonego one of his favourite ever matches and lauded the Italian for his part in proceedings on Wednesday night.

Both had a big opportunity in reaching this point but it was in fact Shelton that seized it to the hilt as he sealed the win and avoided a late surge from Sonego back into the match as he looked to bring himself back into contention.

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"Well, I mean, if it’s the home favourite, Alex de Minaur, 100 per cent you guys can boo me, you can throw stuff at my head. I understand, home guy," Shelton laughed.

"If it’s the No. 1 in the world, it’ll probably be the same. I'm looking forward to it. I know I got a few people in the crowd who are going to be pulling for me too."

He added: "I feel relieved right now. Shoutout Lorenzo Sonego because that was some ridiculous tennis.

"I’m just really happy to be through, get my first win here on Rod Laver. Thanks everybody for coming out. That was one of my favourite matches of my career, so thank you guys so much."

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