Ben Shelton played his first grass match of the year and despite a shaky start, the American cruised in two sets 7-6(4) 7-6(2).
Shelton announced himself to the wider tennis audience by playing amazing tennis in Melbourne to win a few matches at the Australian Open. He demonstrated all of his skills including a devastating serve which was always going to be a great fit on grass. The future was bright for him and he kept proving it weekly.
It's why many fans were excited about seeing the American on the grass surface and he certainly didn't disappoint in his first time on it at the 2023 Cinch Championships. There were some minor nerves to start the match but rather quickly Shelton found his groove and managed to turn around an early deficit.
Guided by his father who is now his primary coach after leaving his college position, Shelton was able to snatch the first set in the tiebreak 7-4. It was a great result for him in the end because he started the match with a 0-3 deficit.
Shelton blasted 10 aces in the opening set losing only 5 points behind his first serve. Wolf had some decent solutions in the opening set but he used only six of seven break points he faced and that's a big no-no on grass. Shelton survived all of that, took the opening set and then played a bit more relaxed in the second.
He took an early lead which many assumed would be enough considering how he served but it actually wasn't. Wolf managed to break in the penultimate chance that he would get making it 3-4 instead of 5-2. Despite having a few chances to secure the match, Wolf managed to force a tiebreak by saving a match point.
Didn't matter much as Shelton was able to get it done in the tiebreak 7-2. A great start for Shelton who is expected to make some noise on grass this year.
0 Comments