Ben Shelton was on the edge against Marcos Giron, but he mounted a spectacular comeback to book a maiden ATP Final in Tokyo.
This was a pretty close call for Shelton who played a fair match but was nearly beaten by his compatriot Giron. While Shelton has been amazing in recent weeks, Giron was spectacular this week in Tokyo beating some big names like Auger-Aliassime and Ruud.
Shelton also cruised through his matches, but he didn't in this one. This was pretty tough and close, which was somewhat expected. The opening set finished in a tiebreak despite Shelton having an early edge. He was up 5-3 and serve for the set but got broken, so he had to play the tiebreak.
He didn't win it, though, as Giron used the good momentum to outplay Shelton and win it 7-2. The second set wasn't much better for Shelton initially, as Giron once again outplayed him. He had a 5-2 lead with a chance to serve out the match twice, but he didn't.
When the lights were bright Shelton stepped up playing really brave tennis and it worked out for him. Two breaks in three games nearly became 3 breaks in five games as Shelton wasted three set points up 6-5 in the second set.
Despite missing out on that, the American rallied in the tiebreak to win it 7-5 and forced a decision. It was a close one, with Shelton's first service game proving crucial. Giron had some break points but didn't use them, and it proved costly when Shelton used his a few games after that.
It was the deciding moment as the American calmly finished the match with several strong service games. The final score was 6-7(2) 7-6(5) 6-4 for the American, who will contest his first ATP Finals tomorrow in Tokyo.
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