American star Ben Shelton has advanced to the semi finals of the Australian Open for the first time, courtesy of a four-set win over Lorenzo Sonego.

The 22-year-old moves to his equal-best grand slam finish – his only other semi coming at the 2023 US Open – after outlasting the unseeded Italian 6-4, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6.

Shelton won the fourth-set tiebreak 7-4 to make his way through to the next round.

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“I feel relieved right now,” he said post-match.

“Shout out to Lorenzo Sonego because that was ridiculous tennis. I’m just really happy to be through and get my first win here on Rod Laver Arena.

“Thank you everybody for coming – full stop one of my favourite matches of my career.”

Shelton will take on the winner of Alex de Minaur and Jannik Sinner on Friday.

When quizzed about potentially getting some harsh treatment from fans if he takes on the local superstar, Shelton took it all in his stride.

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

“If it’s the No.1 in the world, it probably the same. I’m looking forward to it – I’ve got a few people in the crowd who will be pulling for me too.”

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While it was all smiles afterwards, there was still some tension in Shelton’s win.

Shelton got into an argument with the umpire in the first set over a serving clock issue.

Shelton was appealing the clock had run out before Sonego had begun his serving motion, which he believed should have resulted in a time violation.

“This is that debate about when the serve clock should be switched off by the chair umpire, when the serving motion begins,” Brenton Speed said on Nine.

“This is when Shelton looked up at the chair umpire on that point saying ‘hang on a minute, the serve clock’s run out here, that’s a time violation’.

“Some players manipulate it, and maybe Shelton thinks Sonego’s walking a fine line.”

Casey Dellacqua sided with the American star after the discussion.

“I’m with Shelton in terms of the chair umpire really making sure …you really have to have started your motion,” she said.

“I think (umpire) Tom Sweeney just needs to be on that, because once you set a precedent early on in a match, then everyone knows the rules.

“They know that you need to really have started your motion.”

It mattered little in the end, but it continued a tricky day for officials at Melbourne Park.

In the women’s quarter-final clash between Iga Swiatek and Emma Navarro, a blatant double bounce was missed by the chair umpire.