Ben Shelton claimed victory to start his Shanghai Masters campaign, but he acknowledged that his opponent caught him off guard.
The 21-year-old faced the former Canadian number one for the third time since July, and he prevailed each time. Shelton defeated Shapovalov 6-3, 7-5 in just one hour and seventeen minutes to move on to the next round.
Although the scoreline suggests that this was probably his most straightforward win over Denis Shapovalov, the American’s post-match remarks imply otherwise.
Shelton later said: “I think some of the tendencies and things that I expected, he changed it up today. I was looking for a few things and was surprised by some of the things he did on the court.”
Before facing Shapovalov, Shelton was recently seen perfecting his juggling technique in Shanghai, and it appears that he is an expert at it.
Shelton in Shanghai, ranking, and results in 2024
Currently ranked no.16, Ben owns a 36-22 record in 2024. The American is playing at the moment in Shanghai where he overcame the world no.102 Denis Shapovalov 6-3 7-5
.Ben Shelton will compete against the world no.54 Roberto Carballes Baena in the 3rd round. The head to head is 1-0 for Shelton.
Shelton has won 1 title in 2024 in Houston.
He is also scheduled to play in Basel (Swiss Indoors Basel) on the 21st of October and Paris (Rolex Paris Masters) on the 28th of October.