Shelton Overcomes Early Struggles To Advance At Japan Open

| by Erik Virostko

Ben Shelton made a winning start at the 2023 Japan Open, beating home player Taro Daniel in the opening round.

There probably hasn't been a more exciting player on the ATP Tour in recent months than the 21-year-old American. Shelton didn't initially even want to play tennis, yet, here he is as one of the biggest talents.

According to Pam Shriver, he's the leader of his age group, and after his most recent success at the US Open, he now travelled to Tokyo, where he took on Taro Daniel in the first round of the tournament.

The match started well for the American, who got an early break in the first game of the match, but, his opponent immediately managed to break back, and on top of that, he added one more break to gain a 3-1 lead.

When trying to confirm the break, Shelton had a chance to break back, but, he didn't use his chance. On the other hand, Daniel played a very solid set of tennis, winning it 6-3 and having a one-set lead over his opponent.

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But Shelton was determined to fight back, and he was really solid on his serve in the second set. He didn't face a single break point. On the other hand, he managed to break his opponent's serve in the tenth game to win the second set 6-4.

The third set was a set of held serves again, but this time around, Daniel had one break point. Yet, that wasn't enough for him, as the American held his serve, and the third-set tie-break had to decide the match.

Shelton prevailed, winning the tie-break 7-2 and the match 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(2) to set up a second-round clash with Jordan Thompson, who defeated Alexander Zverev in the first round and will try to do the same against the American.

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