Ben Shelton 54/100 | Denis Shapovalov 14/10
This guarantees to be an entertaining conflict between two huge-hitting lefties. This season hasn’t gone fairly in addition to many would have anticipated for American Ben Shelton.
He actually introduced himself final season, reaching the quarterfinals on the Aussie Open earlier than an unimaginable semifinal run on the US Open. He reached the third spherical of each slam this season however did not progress past the 4th spherical in any of them.
He has solely reached the quarterfinals in a single Masters 1000 occasion all 12 months (Cincinnati). His finest results of the season got here in Houston, the place he received his 2nd profession title (and first on clay). These slick Beijing surfaces ought to theoretically swimsuit his big-serving strategy.
He has performed effectively in Asia earlier than, successful his maiden profession title eventually 12 months’s Japan Open. The charismatic American was knocked out by Fils within the quarterfinal stage of his Japan Open title defence. He might do with a stable fortnight to instill some misplaced confidence.
It’s onerous to consider that Denis Shapovalov continues to be simply 25 years of age! I assume he did break by means of at a really younger age, reaching the Canadian Open semifinals as an 18-year-old again in 2018.
The previous prime ten participant has had a troublesome few years. A knee harm introduced his 2023 season to an abrupt finish and he hasn’t been in a position to rediscover his mojo this 12 months.
He has solely reached one quarterfinal all season (in Washington). He has been on the precipice of some stable ends in huge tournaments, choosing up third spherical finishes at Wimbledon, Roland Garros, Miami and Madrid.
He needed to come by means of qualifying this week however he appeared spectacular in his first-round match towards Winston-Salem champ Lorenzo Sonego. He hit 27 winners and received 77% of his first-serve factors towards Sonego, turning into simply the third Canadian man in historical past to register 200 ATP Tour wins (after Raonic and Auger-Aliassime).
The Verdict: Shapovalov to win in three 42/10
Shelton leads the head-to-head 2-0, successful each of these matches throughout this calendar 12 months. However that doesn’t inform the entire story. Shelton beat Shapovlaov in an epic third spherical conflict at Wimbledon, outlasting the Canadian in a marathon five-set slugfest.
The Canadian was then compelled to withdraw in an evenly balanced quarterfinal conflict in Washington. Shapovalov appeared actually spectacular towards Sonego and I feel he might spring an upset right here.
The Canadian has competed effectively towards him this season and Shelton may very well be beginning to really feel the results of what has been a taxing marketing campaign.
