Aleksandar Kovacevic and Ben Shelton will square off in the quarter of the Rome Challenger for the 2nd time in their career. They are scheduled to play on Friday at 1:30 pm on COURT 4. Here the head to head stats and relative prediction.
Prediction, odds and live streaming
The pick for Tennis Tonic is Ben Shelton who should win in 3 sets.
As per the initial odds, Ben Shelton is the pick to win this match.
Ben Shelton -> 1.7
Aleksandar Kovacevic -> 2.15
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Prediction and head to head Aleksandar Kovacevic vs. Ben Shelton
This will be the 2nd time that Aleksandar Kovacevic and Ben Shelton fight against each other. The head to head is 1-0 for Kovacevic (see full H2H stats), but they have never competed against each other on indoor hard courts.
The last time that they locked horns, Kovacevic won 6-3 6-4 in the qualifications in the Cary Challenger back in 2021.
Aleksandar Kovacevic
| Year | Total | Hard | Clay | I.hard | Grass | Carpet |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 34-33 | 13-14 | 4-7 | 16-8 | 1-4 | 0-0 |
| 2024 | 29-35 | 20-17 | 5-8 | 2-6 | 2-4 | 0-0 |
| 2023 | 43-27 | 34-15 | 0-5 | 7-2 | 2-5 | 0-0 |
| 2022 | 41-31 | 22-18 | 4-4 | 15-9 | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| 2021 | 20-17 | 11-10 | 2-3 | 7-4 | 0-0 | 0-0 |
Ranked no. 295, the American reached the quarter after defeating Donald Young 4-6 6-2 6-1 and Strong Kirchheimer 6-3 4-6 6-4.
In the 2nd round, Aleksandar defeated Kirchheimer (6-3 4-6 6-4). During the match, Kovacevic scored 88 points vs Kirchheimer’s 79. Kovacevic was extremely aggressive to blast 42 winners.
Talking about the service games, Kovacevic fired 18 aces and he committed only 4 double faults. Overall, Aleksandar Kovacevic was exceptionally effective on serve to win 84% (42/50) of his 1st serve and 55% (18/33) on the second serve. However, this didn’t prevent his to concede the serve once. Kovacevic broke Kirchheimer twice after converting 50% of his break points (2/4).
Overall Performance in this tournament
Aleksandar has conceded 2 set in this event to win 55% of the points he played.
Kovacevic has a winning win-loss record in the last 6 years having won 55% of his matches (88-71). 5-4 on indoor hard courts in 2022. Talking about his performance on the same surface of this competition, Kovacevic has an overall22-18 win-loss record in the last 6 years on indoor hard courts.
Aleksandar’s best result of the year was reaching the semifinal in the Little Rock Challenger.
Aleksandar has an overall 20-15 win-loss record in 2022, 5-4 on indoor hard courts (See FULL STATS).
Previously in the Rome Challenger
Aleksandar has never competed in this tournament before.
Ben Shelton
| Year | Total | Hard | Clay | I.hard | Grass | Carpet |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 40-24 | 23-9 | 7-5 | 4-6 | 6-4 | 0-0 |
| 2024 | 42-26 | 22-13 | 8-4 | 8-5 | 4-4 | 0-0 |
| 2023 | 28-26 | 21-13 | 4-8 | 1-2 | 2-3 | 0-0 |
| 2022 | 40-11 | 16-9 | 0-0 | 24-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| 2021 | 18-7 | 7-3 | 5-2 | 6-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 |
Ranked no. 433 (career-high), Shelton reached the quarter after beating Toshihide Matsui 6-0 6-2, Liam Draxl 6-4 6-1, Govind Nanda 4-6 6-2 6-3 and Alex Rybakov 7-64 6-3.
In the 2nd round, Ben had a good straight sets win against Rybakov (7-64 6-3). During the match Shelton scored 74 points vs Rybakov’s 66. Ben was exceptionally aggressive to blast 38 winners.
About the serving games, Shelton scored 3 aces and he committed only 6 double faults. Ben Shelton was quite effective on serve to win 75% (38/51) of his 1st serve and 61% (17/28) on the second serve. This was the main reason for not conceding a single break during the match. Shelton broke Rybakov once after converting 33% of his break points (1/3).
Overall Performance in this tournament
Ben started his run at this tournament from the qualifications. In the main draw, he has conceded 1 set in the tournament to win 58% of the points he played.
The American’s best result of the current year was reaching the semifinal in the Little Rock Challenger.
The American has a composed 7-2 win-loss record in 2022, 4-0 on indoor hard courts (See FULL STATS).
H2H Performance in the tournament (main draw)
Matches, sets, games and points
| Points | Kovacevic | Shelton |
|---|---|---|
| Match played | 2 | 4 |
| Tot Set | 6 | 9 |
| Tot Games | 54 | 80 |
| Pts | 169-137 | 282-206 |
| Total Points | 306 | 488 |
| Winners | 73 | 114 |
| %Winners | 43% | 40% |
Kovacevic played 2 matches while Shelton competed in 4 matches. Shelton started his run from the qualifications while Kovacevic had a direct access to the main draw. Both players lost a set in the event. Aleksandar Kovacevic surrendered 2 sets, while Ben Shelton surrendered 1 set. Kovacevic has played 3 set(s) less than Shelton (6 vs 9). Therefore, Kovacevic played 26 games less than Shelton. Aleksandar scored 73 winners (43% of the total points). On the other side, The American scored 114 winners (40%).
Serve Performance
| Serve | Kovacevic | Shelton |
|---|---|---|
| Aces | 25 | 19 |
| Avg per match | 12.5 | 4.8 |
| 1st in | 86/152 | 151/251 |
| %1st in | 57% | 60% |
| 1st pts | 73/86 | 114/151 |
| %1st pts | 85% | 75% |
| 2nd pts | 36/66 | 70/100 |
| %2nd pts | 55% | 70% |
Kovacevic struck 25 aces (12.5 per match). Shelton struck 19 aces (4.8 per match). Kovacevic won 85% points behind his first serve. He was rock solid on his second serve to win 55% of the points. On the other side, Shelton won 75% of the points on his first serve. He had a solid display on his second serve to win 70% of the points.
How they played the important points
| Breaks | Kovacevic | Shelton |
|---|---|---|
| Won | 7 | 12 |
| Converted | 7/13 | 12/25 |
| % Converted | 54% | 48% |
| Conceded | 6 | 19 |
| Saved | 3 | 18 |
| % Saved | 50% | 95% |
| Times Broken | 3 | 1 |
The American broke his opponents 7 times with a 54% conversion rate. The American lost his serve 3 times and he saved 50% of the break points that he conceded. The American broke his opponents 12 times with a 48% conversion rate. Ben conceded his serve once and he saved 95% of the break points that he conceded.
| Kovacevic | ||||
| R1 Young |
R2 Kirchheimer |
Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Score | 4-6 6-2 6-1 | 6-3 4-6 6-4 | ||
| Tot Set | 3 | 3 | 6 | |
| Tot Games | 25 | 29 | 54 | |
| pts | 81-58 | 88-79 | 169-137 | |
| Total points | 139 | 167 | 306 | |
| Winners | 31 | 42 | 73 | |
| %Winners | 38% | 48% | 43% | |
| SERVE | ||||
| Aces | 7 | 18 | 25 | |
| Double Faults | 2 | 4 | 6 | |
| 1st in | 36/69 | 50/83 | 86/152 | |
| % 1st in | 52% | 60% | 57% | |
| 1st pts | 31/36 | 42/50 | 73/86 | |
| % 1st pts | 86% | 84% | 85% | |
| 2nd pts | 18/33 | 18/33 | 36/66 | |
| % 2nd pts | 55% | 55% | 55% | |
| Breaks | ||||
| Won | 5 | 2 | 7 | |
| Converted | 5/9 | 2/4 | 7/13 | |
| Converted % | 56% | 50% | 54% | |
| Conceded | 3 | 3 | 6 | |
| Saved | 1/3 | 2/3 | 3 | |
| Saved % | 33% | 67% | 50% | |
| Times Broken | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Shelton | ||||||
| Q1 Matsui |
Q3 Draxl |
R1 Nanda |
R2 Rybakov |
Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Score | 6-0 6-2 | 6-4 6-1 | 4-6 6-2 6-3 | 7-64 6-3 | ||
| Tot Set | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 9 | |
| Tot Games | 14 | 17 | 27 | 22 | 80 | |
| pts | 53-20 | 62-39 | 93-81 | 74-66 | 282-206 | |
| Total points | 73 | 101 | 174 | 140 | 488 | |
| Winners | 14 | 24 | 38 | 38 | 114 | |
| %Winners | 26% | 39% | 41% | 51% | 40% | |
| SERVE | ||||||
| Aces | 8 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 19 | |
| Double Faults | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 12 | |
| 1st in | 14/31 | 30/46 | 56/95 | 51/79 | 151/251 | |
| % 1st in | 45% | 65% | 59% | 65% | 60% | |
| 1st pts | 14/14 | 24/30 | 38/56 | 38/51 | 114/151 | |
| % 1st pts | 100% | 80% | 68% | 75% | 75% | |
| 2nd pts | 14/17 | 13/16 | 26/39 | 17/28 | 70/100 | |
| % 2nd pts | 82% | 81% | 67% | 61% | 70% | |
| Breaks | ||||||
| Won | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 12 | |
| Converted | 5/8 | 3/9 | 3/5 | 1/3 | 12/25 | |
| Converted % | 63% | 33% | 60% | 33% | 48% | |
| Conceded | 0 | 3 | 11 | 5 | 19 | |
| Saved | 0/0 | 3/3 | 10/11 | 5/5 | 18 | |
| Saved % | – | 100% | 91% | 100% | 146% | |
| Times Broken | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
Head 2 Head
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