The seed carnage continues in Rome: Basilashvili reaches first Masters 1000 third round in four years, ousting Shelton in three
Georgian qualifier Nikoloz Basilashvili, the world No. 117, upset No. 5 seed Ben Shelton 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-3 in the second round of the Rome ATP Masters 1000, claiming his ninth career top-10 win and his first ATP Masters 1000 third round since Indian Wells in 2022. The 34-year-old, a former world No. 16, played with … Continued
Ben Shelton, 2026 | © Imago / PsNewz
Georgian qualifier Nikoloz Basilashvili, the world No. 117, upset No. 5 seed Ben Shelton 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-3 in the second round of the Rome ATP Masters 1000, claiming his ninth career top-10 win and his first ATP Masters 1000 third round since Indian Wells in 2022.
The 34-year-old, a former world No. 16, played with relentless intensity through two hours and 17 minutes on the Super Tennis Arena and capitalised on a flat, error-strewn afternoon from his American opponent.
Basilashvili, who had not won an ATP-level main-draw match this season before arriving in Rome, has now strung together four match wins in a week – three in qualifying and three in the main draw – and improves to 9-24 against top-10 opposition, his last such win having come against Lorenzo Musetti at Wimbledon last year.
Shelton, meanwhile, continues a baffling clay-court swing. The 22-year-old won the BMW Open in Munich last month but has now lost his opening match in both Madrid (to Croatian qualifier Dino Prizmic, who would later beat Novak Djokovic in Rome) and Rome. He joins fellow top-10 men Djokovic, Alex de Minaur and Félix Auger-Aliassime – the world Nos. 5 and 6 – among the eliminated.
Basilashvili will face the winner of Brandon Nakashima and Roberto Bautista Agut in the third round.
