Shelton confirms rematch with Sinner in Shanghai Masters last 16
The No 14 seed from America beat Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena in straight sets on Tuesday
Gepa / Panoramic
American Ben Shelton, the No 14 seed, moved into the last 16 of the Shanghai Masters by winning against Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena 6-3, 6-4 at the Qi Zhong Tennis Center on Tuesday.
Shelton needed a little over an hour to overcome Baena as the big-serving American fired eight aces and 24 winners. He kept his serve intact, breaking the Spaniard’s twice.
With the win, the world No 16 confirmed a Round-of-16 rematch with Italian Jannik Sinner, the top seed. He notably defeated Sinner (2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5)) at the same stage of ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Shanghai last year.
“I think it’s always a big opportunity whenever you get to play one of the best two or three players in the world,” Shelton said in his post-match presser on Tuesday. “Right now world No. 1, obviously, and won two Slams this year, so it will be a great challenge. And, great memories from that match last year, I probably watched the tape of that a couple times so far this year, but, yeah, I’m really looking forward to it.”
Since then, Sinner hasn’t lost against Shelton on the Tour once and leads the head-to-head 3-1. The Italian has reached the pre-quarterfinals on the back of wins against Japanese Taro Daniel (6-1, 6-4) and Argentinian Tomas Martin Etcheverry (6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-2) in the previous rounds.
The 22-year-old American, on the other hand, defeated Canadian qualifier Denis Shapovalov (6-3, 7-5) in the second round of the Shanghai tournament, after having gone through the first with a bye.
Shanghai Masters 1000, other third-round results (Qi Zhong Tennis Center, hard, USD 8.995.555, most recent results first):
- Tallon Griekspoor vs. Alexander Zverev
- Flavio Cobolli vs. Novak Djokovic
- David Goffin vs. Marcos Giron
- Jiri Lehecka vs. Holger Rune
- Frances Tiafoe vs. Roman Safiullin
- Alexei Popyrin vs. Grigor Dimitrov
- Taylor Fritz (7) beat Yosuke Watanuki (Q): 6-3, 6-4
- Jakub Mensik beat Alexander Shevchenko: 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-2
- Tomas Machac (30) beat Aleksandar Vukic (Q): 6-4, 6-2
- Gael Monfils beat Ugo Humbert (16): 7-6 (7), 2-6, 6-1
- Stefanos Tsitsipas (10) beat Alexandre Muller: 6-3, 7-5
- Tommy Paul (11) beat Alejandro Tabilo (19): 6-7 (2), 7-6 (6), 6-2
- Carlos Alcaraz (3) beat Yibing Wu (WC): 7-6 (5), 6-3
- Jannik Sinner beat Tomas Martin Etcheverry (31): 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-2
- Daniil Medvedev (5) beat Matteo Arnaldi (29): 5-7, 6-4, 6-4
