Ben Shelton qualified for the quarter-finals of the ATP 500 Japan Open
Ben Shelton (USA) qualified for the quarter-finals of the ATP 500 Japan Open after defeating Mariano Navone (Argentina) by 2-0 (6:4, 6:3) in 1:27 hours. The eighth-seeded American tennis player did not clinch the victory easy and needed to work hard until reaching it.
Ben Shelton made more aces (5-3), but also made more double faults (6-3). He made 17 winners against 12 for his opponent, but also committed 30 unforced errors against 26 for the Argentinian player. The key moment was that the American score the 72% from his first serve against only 59% for his opponent.
The first set started with an early break for Mariano Navone, but Ben Shelton returned it immediately and equalized to 1:1. Both players won their next serve games and the next breakpoint came for the American player, who had a chance in the 6th game but missed it. However, he received another two breakpoints in the 10th game and scored the second to close the set at 6:4.
Ben Shelton took an early lead of 3:0 in the second set after a break. He needed to save one breakpoint in the fifth game, but did not allowed his opponent to equalize and closed the set at 6: without any more breaks.
The next opponent of Ben Shelton is the winner between Matteo Berrettini (Italy) and Arthur Fils (France).
Ben Shelton has incredible chance to reach the final after the top-seeded Taylor Fritz (USA) and third-seeded Casper Ruud (Norway), who were in her part of the main draw, were knocked out in the first round. The only seeded opponent that the American can face is Holger Rune (Denmark) in the semi-finals.
