Ben Shelton made it through to the second week of the 2024 Wimbledon Championships after beating former semi-finalist Denis Shapovalov.
It was not meant to be a blast from the past kind of run for Shapovalov, who made the semi-final at SW19 in 2021. The Canadian has a really great game for grass, but his inconsistencies continue to stifle any kind of meaningful process.
Shelton has had his own demons to battle on grass, but he's found a good spell for it at this year's Wimbledon. A couple of hard-fought wins made him battle-hardened for this match, and it proved very useful.
The match started on Friday but had to be suspended because of rain early in the opening set, and when Shapovalov won the first set in a tie-break on Saturday, Shelton didn't lose his confidence and kept doing what he does best.
The Canadian had a really strong opening set, but he was also a bit lucky. Shapovalov saved all four break points in that set and then simply played the tie-break a bit better to win it 7-4.
Things went a lot better for the American in the next set, as he played an almost flawless test to win it 6-2. However, the third one wasn't very good for either player.
Both were missing quite a lot, but Shapovalov's biggest problem was that his serve didn't work at all. Shelton could carry himself with his serve, which has been incredible at Wimbledon this year, and win it 6-4.
In the fourth set, Shapovalov returned to a really solid level, leaving his opponent with very few chances. On return, the Canadian pushed and ultimately used his chances to win the set 6-4. Shelton, once again, just overhit a bit too much.
It wouldn't prove a problem, as the American played a really strong final set to win the match in five sets 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, setting up a fourth-round match with the World No. 1, Jannik Sinner.
Ben Shelton vs Denis Shapovalov Match Stats:
| Ben Shelton | 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 | Denis Shapovalov |
| 7 | Aces | 6 |
| 4 | Double Faults | 13 |
| 66% | First Serve % | 61 % |
| 81% (73/90) | Points Won After First Serve % | 73% (69/94) |
| 62% (29/47) | Points Won After Second Serve % | 52% (31/60) |
| 29% (5/17) | Break Point Conversion | 25% (1/4) |
| 38 | Winners | 37 |
| 38 | Unforced Errors | 46 |
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