American tennis star Ben Shelton celebrated his 24th birthday with a win on Friday, beating Germany’s Daniel Altmaier 6-3, 7-6 (6) in his opening match at the Shanghai Masters, according to reports.
Shelton, the world No. 4 and third seed, hit 22 winners, including seven aces, and outpointed his opponent 77-62 in a match lasting one hour and 57 minutes. It was his 40th tour-level victory of the season and his first match since losing the U.S. Open final last month. In the third round he will face France’s Arthur Gea, who upset a fellow Frenchman and 30th seed in three sets.
The American No. 1 is particularly keen on earning a berth in the season-ending finals in Turin, where the top eight players qualify based on points earned during the year. He said this week that a place in the final eight and a first year-end top-five finish are massive motivations, adding that there is still a lot of work to do. After the match, he joked that he is not a fan of birthday cake at all.
Shelton played Davis Cup for the United States after the U.S. Open and withdrew from another recent team event and a tournament in Japan, saying his body needed rest. Friday’s win suggests the break did him good: the first set was routine, the second tighter, with Altmaier pushing him to a tiebreak that Shelton closed out 8-6.
Elsewhere on Friday, the top seed also progressed, recording his 30th hard-court win of the year against a Chinese wild-card entry. That sets up a heavyweight weekend in Shanghai, but the American’s steady progress matters for the race to Turin: every round he wins protects his position among the top eight who qualify for the season finale.
The bigger story in Shanghai on Friday was the exit of a 24-time Grand Slam champion, who lost in straight sets after winning a title in Beijing last week. Shelton, by contrast, moves on quietly and efficiently, exactly what a player chasing a place in Turin needs at this stage of the season.
