Ben Shelton is enjoying his time in Acapulco so far, notching two wins, but a third one will require a lot more from him because he's facing Casper Ruud.
Ruud famously spoiled last year that Los Cabos is moving to earlier in the calendar by confirming that he'll play that event and the Mexican Open in Acapulco back-to-back. The problem was that those events weren't back to back, which confused many, but fans quickly figured out what was going on.
He backed up his promise by playing both last week and this week. The week in Los Cabos ended with a runner-up trophy as he lost in the final to Jordan Thompson, but he's back to winning ways in Acapulco and will look to make it three in a row against Shelton.
Doing so will require a pretty good effort from Ruud, as Shelton is looking very solid this week. He earned two hard-fought wins and isn't willing to stop there.
Head-to-head:
Ruud and Shelton have actually played twice so far, and it's been a very interesting matchup. Shelton won in Cincinnati in 2022 in two sets, but last year, Ruud got his revenge in Barcelona. The difference in those matches was the courts.
Barcelona is obviously a relatively slow clay court, while Cincinnati is a quick hard court that benefits great servers. That's where Shelton can create an advantage, but that's going to be a bit tough in Acapulco, not because of the conditions but because Ruud will be ready.
| Ben Shelton | Casper Ruud | |
| 1 | H2H | 1 |
| 17 | Rank | 11 |
| 21 | Age | 25 |
| 8-4 | 2024 W/L | 11-2 |
| 35-31 | Career W/L | 216-117 |
Prediction:
The Norwegian is playing much better this year, and I expect him to win this match simply because when the rally develops, I actually expect him to be a bit more consistent. Shelton is still very raw, and I don't see him surviving long rallies with Ruud.
Prediction: Casper Ruud to win in two sets.
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