Ben Shelton produced a really strong effort to come back from a set down and defeat compatriot Christopher Eubanks at the 2023 Cincinnati Masters.
The rising star won the all-American clash in the opening round of the Cincinnati Masters with a fabulous comeback. It was a pretty good match between the players, as Eubanks was on top early, but Shelton slowly turned it around.
The conditions suit both players as both of them used their serve to set up winners. Eubanks was the more aggressive player overall and had more winners, however, it didn't matter much. All of the sets were quite competitive, especially the first one, which Eubanks won only after a late crumble by Shelton.
That first set was actually the best level we saw from Eubakns since his incredible Wimbledon breakout last month. He didn't face a single break point and lost only a couple of points behind his first serve. It was a level he didn't keep in the second set, as Shelton found plenty of solutions.
It was actually the younger American who didn't face a single break point this time around, easily winning the second set. Now, the final set was very competitive as both of them badly wanted to win.
There is a healthy rivalry going on between the friends who were in high spirits before the match joking around in the tunnel. They've known each other for a while having played doubles together as well.
Shelton was the first one that found a breakthrough in the 7th game of the match breaking Eubanks for the 4-3 lead. Eubanks had chances to break back but didn't get it done as Shelton held the lead. The final score was 5-7 6-4 6-4 for Shelton, who had nine aces and 25 winners. According to the draw, he'll face Stefanos Tsitsipas in the next round, and that's going to be a very interesting one.
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