Ben Shelton defeated Zizou Bergs on Wednesday night in the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship to move on to his first-ever clay court quarterfinal on the ATP tour.
Shelton advanced to play fellow American Brandon Nakashima with victories of 3-6, 6-4, and 6-3. Shelton is making an effort not to let this week’s pressure of being the top seed get to him.
He expressed his feelings about it and said: “Just happy to get through it. It was a long one. I don’t think about it. I’m not someone who checks the draw too much. I just come out here to compete and play.”
Shelton said in his on-court interview: “Sorry if I kept you guys here a little later than you expected tonight, but happy to be playing here in Houston. It’s a great fanbase that they have for tennis here. Thanks everyone for coming out!”
Simply amazing đź‘Ź@BenShelton | @mensclaycourt | #USClay pic.twitter.com/NF8pzjFiKH
— ATP Tour (@atptour) April 4, 2024
Shelton in Houston, ranking, and results in 2024
Currently the world no.16, Shelton has a 13-7 match record in 2024. The American is participating in Houston where he beat the world no.111 Zizou Bergs 3-6 6-4 6-3 and the world no.92 Brandon Nakashima 7-5 7-69.
Ben Shelton will fight against the world no.30 Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the semifinal on Saturday at 1:00 pm on STADIUM COURT. They have never competed against each other so far in top tournaments.
Shelton is scheduled to compete next in Madrid Challenger (Madrid Challenger). He will start to play the tournament from the main draw that will commence on the 8th of April.