WATCH: Ben Shelton accidentally strikes chair umpire twice in a matter of minutes during Australian Open QF

Ben Shelton came through a tight four-set win over Lorenzo Sonego in the Australian Open quarterfinals. The encounter was not without drama, seeing unexpected momentum shifts and a few unsolicited run-ins with the chair umpire.

Shelton’s groundstrokes hit the chair umpire twice in an amusing 10 minutes during the second set. In a respite, no damage was done and the court official laughed about it.

The young American quickly approached the chair umpire after the first accident, apologizing for the unintentional shot. On the second occasion, the umpire jokingly signaled at Shelton, highlighting that it was his second strike as the two shared a light-hearted moment on the court.

The Australian Open organizers also saw the funny side of things, sharing a short clip of the two incidents on the official handle on 'X', humorously captioning the post:

"Was the umpires call really that bad???"

Shelton went on to take the set, moving into a two-set lead over Sonego. His opponent, however, hit back in the third to make the contest more competitive. The American player prevailed in four 6-4, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6(4).

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"This is one of my my favorite matches" - Ben Shelton after beating Lorenzo Sonego in Australian Open QF

Ben Shelton (R) and Lorenzo Sonego after their 2025 Australian Open quarterfinal. (Source: Getty)

Reflecting on his quarterfinal win at the Australian Open, Ben Shelton said he was happy to come through as his opponent played “ridiculous” tennis throughout the four-set encounter.

The American described it as one of the favorite matches from his young career before thanking the packed Rod Laver Arena crowd for cheering for him.

"Shout out to Lorenzo Senego because that was some ridiculous tennis, but yeah, I'm just really happy to be through, get my first win here on Rod Laver," Ben Shelton said.

"Thanks everybody for coming out, this is one of my my favorite matches in my career, so thank you guys so much," he added.

Shelton has been made to work hard for his spot in the Australian Open semifinals, having been pushed to four sets in four of five matches at Melbourne Park so far. While he came through a straight-sets win over Brandon Nakashima, the youngster needed four sets against Pablo Carreno Busta, Lorenzo Musetti, Gael Monfils, and Lorenzo Sonego.

The American will take on the winner of defending champion Jannik Sinner and home hope Alex De Minaur's quarterfinal in the semifinals.