American player Ben Shelton is aiming to learn from his early elimination at Indian Wells to improve at the upcoming Miami Open.
Shelton lost in three sets in the second round at Indian Wells to compatriot Taylor Fritz just ten days ago. He is now looking forward to his second-round tie at Miami against either Adrian Mannarino or Shang Juncheng.
The 20-year-old rookie is also keeping upbeat about his experience at Indian Wells and he said to ATP Tour that he learned a lot from the defeat to Fritz.
"I definitely took a lot from it, It definitely gave me some confidence, playing someone who was No. 5 in the world, [in a match] that tight. I thought I played a great match, but also I could see some ways that he exposed me or that he picked on."
Also, despite losing to Fritz, who is the number one US player in the world, Shelton is aware that he has to up his game against the sport's best in order to improve moving forward.
"[It was good] being able to get that feedback and knowing the things that I’m going to have to improve if I want to compete with the best. I’m always excited when I get to match up with a guy like that who has had so much success lately, so I was happy to be able to play that match.”
In January, Shelton also reached the Australian Open quarter-final during his first appearance at the major event.
The 20-year-old has not been able to replicate his success at following tournaments after crashing out at the early stages of the Delray Beach Open, the Mexican Open, and Indian Wells. Yet the American rookie is looking forward to the challenge in Miami as he enters the competition as the 32nd seed.
"It’s a pretty great stadium, I like the set-up here, There’s a lot of space, it’s spread out, everything’s really nice. It’s actually my first time being down at the stadium for anything, so I’m enjoying it so far. It’s been good weather, and I’m really looking forward to hopefully playing some good tennis here.”
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