Japan Open: Shelton wins first ATP singles title, to make top 15 debut

At the start of the 2022 season, American Ben Shelton was ranked No 573 in the world. Less than two years later, the 21-year-old will make his debut in the top 15 on Monday after winning his first ATP singles title on Sunday.

The big-hitting left-hander, who had never travelled outside the United States for a tennis tournament until the Australian Summer earlier this year, defeated Russian Aslan Karatsev 7-5, 6-1 to win the Japan Open at the Ariake Colosseum in Tokyo. The win makes Shelton the sixth first-time ATP singles champion in 2023 (joining Tallon Griekspoor – Pune, Wu Yibing – Dallas, Arthur Fils – Lyon, Chris Eubanks – Mallorca, Pedro Cachin – Gstaad).

Shelton now owns a 2-0 edge over Karatsev in career head-to-head, having beaten the Russian in the third round of the recent US Open in four sets.

Bryan and Ben Shelton become the fourth father-son duo to win an ATP singles title in Open Era

The American became the youngest player to triumph in Tokyo since then 20-year-old Lleyton Hewitt won here in 2001. It also makes him and his father, Bryan Shelton, the fourth father-son duo to win an ATP singles title in Open Era (Phil & Taylor Dent, Ramanathan & Ramesh Krishnan, Petr & Sebastian Korda).

En route to the final, Shelton, ranked No 19 this week, beat Japanese qualifier Taro Daniel (3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (2)), Australian Jordan Thompson (6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-3), No 5 seed Tommy Paul (7-6 (4), 6-3) and qualifier Marcos Giron (6-7 (2), 7-6 (5), 6-4).

Karatsev, ranked No 50 but assured of moving into the top 40 next week, had scored wins over American Frances Tiafoe, the No 6 seed (6-3, 7-6 (4)), Chinese Zhizhen Zhang (6-3, 6-4), Australian Alex De Minaur, the No 4 seed (6-3, 6-2) and Japanese wildcard Shintaro Mochizuki (6-3, 6-4) earlier in the week.

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