Ben Shelton will be playing in the 2023 Japan Open semifinals after beating Tommy Paul in what is becoming a nice rivalry on the ATP Tour.
When the two Americans met at the Australian Open early this year, it was quite evident that thanks to their qualities, they will likely meet many more times. That became a reality already at the 2023 US Open, where Shelton defeated Paul, and another match was played in Tokyo.
Both of them had good form coming into the match and also the conditions should suit both of them. The first set was a typical set of two players with solid serve, as Shelton fired eight aces, and thanks to great returning, he also managed to break his opponent's serve in the ninth game.
Yet, that wasn't enough as his opponent immediately broke back, and after Paul's break, the first set went into a tie-break. The more experienced American got the first mini-break, but after that, Shelton took his serve twice, winning the tie-break 7-4.
After winning the first set, Shelton was full of confidence, and that's something that helped him, despite facing two break points early in the second set of the match. He managed to keep the pressure high on return, and forced a few mistakes from his opponent at crucial moments.
Because of that, he was able to break Paul's serve once again, and this time around, his opponent couldn't respond to it. After an hour and 40 minutes of play, Shelton won the match 7-6(4), 6-3 and secured the 2023 Japan Open semifinal.
In the semifinals of the ATP 500 tournament in Tokyo, the 21-year-old American will await the winner of the match between Felix Auger-Aliassime who recently broke his losing streak, or Marcos Giron, who managed to stun Casper Ruud.
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