Ben Shelton will play in the fourth round of the Shanghai Masters again, and again, he will face the same opponent.
Unlike Coco Gauff, Shelton seems to love the post-US Open part of the tennis calendar. Last year, he won the Japan Open in Tokyo and then reached the quarter-finals at the Shanghai Masters.
He couldn't defend his title in Tokyo this year, as he lost in the quarter-finals to an inspired Arthur Fils, who ended up being the eventual winner this year, but his journey in Shanghai continued into the fourth round again.
His third-round opponent was Roberto Carballes Baena, and the two players had to wait for their match for quite some time, as rain in Shanghai seriously disrupted the schedule, meaning that this match was played much later than it was initially planned to be played.
As a result, the winner knew that they would have to play matches on back-to-back days, as the fourth-round matches are scheduled to be played on Wednesday. This comes after both players didn't have a chance to play since Friday.
Still, the rust didn't show on either of the two, as they started with a very solid serving performance, keeping the match without any break points until the sixth game of the opening set.
In that game, Shelton pushed his opponent to the limit, and Carballes Baena couldn't handle it, as he lost his serve. The American player was then able to control his serve relatively easily in the following game to make it 5-2 after breaking his opponent's serve.
Shelton then had a set point on the Spaniard's serve to win the opener 6-2, but he couldn't convert it. It didn't matter much, as he won his next service game to love, winning the first set 6-3.
The second set started with 22 consecutive points won on serve by these players. Although Shelton was the first to break this streak, he wasn't the first to face break points.
That was Carballes Baena who faced one break point in the seventh game, after losing a 40-15 lead, and that would prove to be decisive, as Shelton was able to break his opponent's serve and continue his serving masterclass.
Shelton won the match 6-3, 6-4, but more impressive were his serving stats. He hit eight aces and won 94% of rallies after his first serve. He also hit his first serve 73% of the time, showing a lot of confidence in his game ahead of his fourth-round match.
Last year, the American player also reached the fourth round, only to set up a meeting with Jannik Sinner, who, at the time, was on a seven-match winning streak. Shelton managed to beat Sinner 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(5), recording one of the best wins in his tennis career up until that point.
Now, they will meet in a fight for the quarter-final spot again, but this time, the Italian is the World No. 1 player on the ATP Tour. Still, Shelton will fancy his chances, and should he win, he will certainly want to make it past the quarter-final stage, as last year, Sebastian Korda stopped him in the quarter-final.
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