Ben Shelton earned his first win since the US Open at the Swiss Indoors Basel on Tuesday, saving two match points to beat Kamil Majchrzak 6-7(2), 6-3, 7-6(7) and further boosting his hopes of qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals.
Shelton retired from his third-round match against Adrian Mannarino at the US Open due to a left shoulder injury and returned to the Tour earlier this month in Shanghai, where he was knocked out by David Goffin in the opening round.
The 23-year-old was not at his best against Pole Majchrzak, but found his trademark fighting spirit in the closing stages. Shelton saved two match points in the third set tiebreak of 4/6, eventually taking his second chance to advance after two hours and 43 minutes. The left-hander, who advanced to the final in Basel twelve months ago, next meets Jaume Munar.
“The margins were so tight. He had the match on his racket and I had it on mine,” Shelton said. “At the beginning of a tournament, on a fast pitch like this, you’re going to see a lot of games with close margins and you have to stay there mentally and stay strong and I did a great job of that.
“He served great, handled my serve very well and played hard from the baseline. It’s the first match I’ve won since I got injured and I’m really happy that I’ve been able to gain some momentum.”
Shelton is sixth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, 625 points ahead of ninth-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime, the first player outside the Top-8. Auger-Aliassime will also be in action in Basel.
In a dramatic ending to the first set, Shelton saved three break points at 5-5 with a big helping and then led 0/30 on Majchrzak’s throw when he was 6-5 up. However, he lost 11 of the last 13 points in the set, falling behind. The American was given a medical timeout for blisters in the second set but remained in trouble and failed to get a break point on his serve to force a decider.
Shelton, who hit 44 winners, then saved two match points in the third set tiebreak before ultimately triumphing. After his victory, Shelton roared toward his father Bryan Shelton, who was watching.
“It’s huge for me,” Shelton added when asked about his first win since his injury. “When you’re trying to find your rhythm again, it can be difficult. As a tennis player, when you’re playing against guys in form at the end of the season and you’ve taken a few weeks off and you’ve lost some rhythm [it’s tough]but I did a great job preparing for this tournament to get to a place where I could compete.”
Earlier, Joao Fonseca defeated defending champion Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard 7-6(6), 6-3 to become the youngest match winner at the ATP 500 event since Denis Shapovalov in 2017.
The 19-year-old pushed forward effectively during the clash and followed up with heavy forehands to win 72 percent (21/29) of net points, according to Infosys ATP Stats. Fonseca will play fellow #NextGenATP star Jakub Mensik in the second round.
Fonseca has had an impressive first full season on the Tour. The 2024 Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF Champion won its first tour-level crown in Buenos Aires and broke the Top 50 in the PIF ATP Rankings. The Brazilian has a 22-15 record this year.
In other action, Marin Cilic defeated Belgian lucky loser David Goffin 7-6(9), 7-5 to reach the second round. The Croatian, who defeated Goffin in qualifying in Basel, will next meet fifth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime or Gabriel Diallo. Cilic and Goffin are at 5-5 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series.
Reilly Opelka defeated Sebastian Baez 6-3, 6-4 and Valentin Royer defeated Raphael Collignon 6-4, 7-6(5).
[NEWSLETTER FORM]
#Shelton #saves #MPs #Fonseca #achieves #debut #victory #Basel