Former champion Dominic Thiem will play his final US Open this year, and he will face Ben Shelton in the opening round of the tournament.
Thiem is a couple of months away from retiring from tennis. Years ago, when the Austrian player was busy playing Rafael Nadal in the Roland Garros final, many wondered whether the Austrian would ever get his hands on a Grand Slam trophy.
He would do so at the 2020 US Open, but that ended up being the only Grand Slam trophy he would ever win. Thiem's career took a bizarre turn after that 2020 US Open win, as he struggled with finding a good rhythm again and general motivation.
A wrist injury at the 2021 Mallorca Championships essentially ends his career at only 27 years of age. He was world number 5 then, but he could never get to that ranking again.
Thiem didn't play until the following year, but after returning, he wasn't the same. He was never the same, as his rankings kept dropping. He finished the 2022 season at number 102, the 2023 season at number 98, and is currently the 209th player on the ATP Tour. He managed only 22 matches this year and won 8 of those.
Shelton, on the other hand, had a pretty eventful year, winning 30 of 49 matches. His form fluctuated this year, and he's been both good and bad. More recently, Shelton has looked very decent, just in time for the US Open, which is a hugely important event for him.
He made the semi-final last year and will be hoping that history repeats itself with this matchup. It does because they played at the US Open last year as well.
That match wasn't the only one they played. The first one came in Estoril, also last year, on clay. Shelton was a raw player at that time, and he had never played on a European clay court before.
The match showed it, and Thiem was able to cruise to a 6-2, 6-2 win. A couple of months later, at the US Open, Thiem again troubled Shelton. He was up a break in the opening set but started to deal with some stomach issues as the match went on.
Shelton was able to break back and force a tie-break, which he won. Only one game was played after that, as Thiem ended up retiring due to the stomach issues he was experiencing.
He will get a chance to redeem himself this year, although Shelton is the huge favorite in this match. Thiem has barely played this year, and when he did, it was mostly on clay. He has only six matches on hard courts, but he won three of those, which is nearly half of all his wins this year.
Shelton has been spectacular at the US Open historically and is expected to continue that this year. The serve and aggressive baseline play are just too overwhelming for many players.
| Ben Shelton | Dominic Thiem | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | H2H | 1 |
| 13 | Rank | 209 |
| 21 | Age | 30 |
| 30-19 | 2024 W/L | 2-7 |
| 59-46 | Career W/L | 348-213 |
As emotional as this US Open will be for Thiem, there is very little chance he will do anything but lose this match. Shelton is too good and comfortable on the Arthur Ashe Stadium to lose this match.
Prediction: Ben Shelton to win in three sets.