Ben Shelton missed the opportunity to stimulate his Turin, hopes for his return to Tour on Friday, when he lost no. 7 David Goffin in the second round in the Shanghai Rolex Masters. The Belgian achieved a 6-2, 6-4 victory to achieve his second top 10 victory of the season.
Shelton competed for the first time since he was forced to retire during the third round in the US Open in August because of a left shoulder injury, which he described as’ the worst pain ever in [my] to live’. Upon return, he was somewhat from the pace and committed 22 casual mistakes to 11 from Goffin, who beat Carlos Alcaraz earlier this year during the ATP Masters 1000 event in Miami.
Shelton has a record of 37-19 Tour level in 2025, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index, and this year has produced some of its best tennis on hard courts. The 22-year-old won his Maiden ATP Masters 1000 title on the surface in Toronto and also reached the semi-final at the Australian Open.
Shelton’s hard work meant that he arrived in the sixth of Shanghai in the PIF ATP Live Race to Turin on 3,720 points and in a good place to make his debut at the Nitto ATP Finals in November. However, the Lefty can now be surpassed by the seventh placed Alex de Minaur (3,355) and eighth placed Lorenzo Musetti (3,345) in the coming days.
Shelton is currently 1,005 points ahead of the 10th Felix Auger-Aliases, who is the first player outside the top 8, with the ninth placed Jack Draper for the rest of the year due to an injury. Auger-Aliass Time plays Chengdu champion Alejandro Tabilo in his Shanghai opener.
Goffin saved all three breakpoints he encountered against Shelton and leads the sixth seed 2-0 in the Lexus ATP Head2head series of the couple. The 34-year-old, who is a two-time Shanghai quarter finalist, plays Gabriel Diallo in the third round on Sunday. The Canadian defeated Benjamin Bonzi 6-4, 6-4.
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