Ben Shelton is through to his sixth Masters 1000 quarter-final following a 7-6, 6-3 victory over Andrey Rublev in Paris. The American sealed the deal in an hour and 35 minutes, remaining on the title course and qualifying for the ATP Finals for the first time.
The former college tennis star needed less than three years to join the elite, showing his incredible potential and crowning his career-best season with a notable honor.
Shelton retired at the US Open due to a shoulder injury. He seems ready to fire massive serves again after dropping 11 points in ten service games and offering his rival no break points.
Rublev fought well in the opener and stood two points from taking it. He dropped the tie break 8-6and experienced back-to-back break in the second part of the second set to hit the exit door.
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Ben fired 27 service winners and landed 25 direct points with 13 unforced errors. He trailed a bit from the baseline and in the more advanced rallies but erased that deficit in the shortest exchanges up to four strokes/
They served well in the opening set. A left-hander closed the 11th game at love with a forehand down the line winner, and Rublev responded with a fine hold in the next one to introduce a tie break.
The American provided two mini-breaks and drew Andre's mistake for 6-3. The Russian denied those three set points and locked the result at 6-6.
However, Ben landed a beautiful volley winner for 7-6 and seized the fourth set point with a cracking forehand down the line winner, moving in front after 53 minutes. They served well in the first six games of the second set.
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Shelton stepped in on the return at 3-3 and converted the third set point that sent him in front. The American held after deuces for 5-3 and made another push on the return in the next one.
He converted the third match point to reach the quarter-final and qualify for the ATP Finals for the first time.
