Ben Shelton will be back on the courts at the 2024 Mexican Open in Acapulco as he'll take on Daniel Evans in the first round of the ATP 500 event.
Shelton last played in Dallas, where he put together a good performance but failed to really go all the way. As much as his run last year was impressive, the youngster is still a pretty raw player who has plenty to work on before he's ready for the next step.
Acapulco will be an interesting experience for him as it's quite a unique court, rather slow, and he's playing a player who doesn't mind long rallies. Evans is a bucket list matchup in tennis because he's very particular in the way he plays tennis.
Head-to-head:
Shelton and Evans have never played before, and that's going to be troublesome for the younger one because the Brit employs all these different tricks in his matches. From slices to serve and volley to just tremendous touch and defense at times, he is just tough to play.
I wish I could say that Shelton has patience in his game, but he doesn't really. It's still very boom-boom, so I think he might struggle here when we look at the whole picture. The court is somewhat slow; it requires longer rallies and a fair amount of patience, and you really don't want to play someone like Evans here.
| Ben Shelton | Dan Evans | |
| 0 | H2H | 0 |
| 16 | Rank | 42 |
| 21 | Age | 33 |
| 6-4 | 2024 W/L | 1-3 |
| 35-31 | Career W/L | 147-161 |
Prediction:
Still, a good enough performance from Shelton could do some damage here. He pushed around Holger Rune last year in Acapulco, and much of that concerns his serve. I can see him winning if he can keep himself away from long rallies and many unforced errors. Still, I favour Evans more.
Prediction: Daniel Evans to win in three sets.
0 Comments