Shelton's ATP Finals Chances Diminish After First-Round Vienna Exit

| by Sebastian Dahlman

Ben Shelton's Japan Open triumph gave him mathematical chances to secure a maiden ATP Finals berth, but those chances are pretty much gone with his early Vienna Open exit.

Shelton produced a tremendous effort to win his maiden ATP trophy at the Japan Open recently. That triumph gave him a boost of 500 points, which is a lot, and put him in striking distance of the ATP Finals in Turin.

Getting there seemed like a stretch for the rising star, but he was determined to pursue it; why not? He felt fresh enough to compete immediately after the Japan Open, though the choice might have been a bit questionable.

He played an okay match but lost to Jannik Sinner in the Austrian capital, which wasn't a huge surprise, given that he has decided to travel to Vienna hours after his Tokyo triumph.

That loss makes it almost impossible for him to book a spot in Turin because, as of now, he is trailing the 8th player in the Race (Holger Rune) by 870 points, which is a lot, and that number will grow as Rune is still in the Basel Open draw.

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Shelton needed a really solid outing in Vienna to put himself in a good spot leading up to the Paris Masters; however, that seems very unlikely right now. It's not a terrible thing for the teenager who needs a bit of rest after playing a lot of tennis recently because the last thing he needs right now is to push himself too much.

He'll have a chance to play some more tennis at the upcoming Paris Masters, where he'll get a chance to earn 1000 points, and if things go very well for him, in terms of the results of others, he can still qualify for the ATP Finals.

If he doesn't qualify for Turin, he can bring his talent to Saudi Arabia for some Next Gen ATP Finals action. After all, this has been a dream season for the youngster as he's likely to finish in the Top 15, which seemed improbable at best at the start of the year.

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