Shelton Keen To 'Sharpen His Game On Clay' As He's Set To Face Ruud In Barcelona

| by Balasz Virag

Ben Shelton is proving that he's much more than just your average American who runs away from clay as he earned another win on the surface.

Most American players don't do well on clay because there are very few clay courts in the country. Their players like their hard courts but Ben Shelton understands he'll need to learn to play on the surface if he wants to be great.

He's made some good steps towards that this year winning a couple of matches and showing great promise. The Barcelona Open saw him earn another win and after the match, Shelton admitted that it was a really good start for him:

I thought that this was definitely a good start to the tournament for me. I think that I did some things well, some things I could have done better, and over the next couple of days I’m going to hope to improve on those things and sharpen my game.

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Up next for Shelton is Casper Ruud, a player he knows. Their first meeting went very well for the youngster when he stunned Ruud in Cincinnati in straight sets. A very favourable court for good servers, Shelton did a lot of damage with his serve but he expects a very different meeting this time around. It's going to be tricky this time around.

Different surface, different circumstances. I don’t think he had any idea who I was the last time I played him, and I know he knows me now. I assume that he’ll be more prepared for some of my things I’m going to throw at him and I’m really excited for that matchup.

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