Ben Shelton hammers past Bautista Agut to reach round 2 at Australian Open

He was the darling of the Australian Open in 2023, reaching the quarter-final on his debut in Melbourne Park.

In 2024, with a brand new set of expectations, American Ben Shelton, the No 16 seed, continued to turn heads. The 21-year-old eased past Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut 6-2, 7-6 (2), 7-5 to move into the second round of the Australian Open at Melbourne Park on Monday, booking a date with Australia’s Chris O’Connell next.

Shelton is now 10-2 in his last 12 hard court matches at majors, and 11-5 overall at the majors.

The American rifled 14 aces and 53 winners across the two hour and 46-minute contest, saving five of six break points to claim victory in his first meeting with 35-year-old Bautista Agut.

Anytime that you play an Aussie here in Melbourne, you know you’re in for a rowdy matchup.

Ben Shelton on taking on an Australian player, Christopher O’Connell in the second round

Looking ahead to his next match, Shelton knows he’s in for a hard time as he takes on Aussie O’Connell.

“I’m really looking forward to the matchup. Anytime that you play an Aussie here in Melbourne, you know you’re in for a rowdy matchup,” the American told the press after his win today. “I know a lot of the crowd is not going to be on my side for this next match, but I’m used to that. I played an Aussie last year here in Melbourne. So, yeah, I’m really looking forward to it. I think it makes tennis a lot of fun. It’s an environment that I got used to playing in playing college tennis. I know I’m not just the college guy anymore who just got out here. I’ve been on tour for a year, but I still enjoy those types of a little more hostile atmospheres.

Melbourne (Grand Slam), other first-round matches (Melbourne Park, hard, USD 58.910.000):

• Daniil Medvedev (3) beat Terence Atmane (Q): 5-7, 6-2, 6-4, 1-0 ret.
• Emil Ruusuvuori beat Patrick Kypson (WC): 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (4)
• Sebastian Korda (29) beat Vit Kopriva (Q): 6-1, 6-4, 2-6, 4-6, 6-2
• Flavio Cobolli (Q) beat Nicolas Jarry (18): 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5
• Lorenzo Musetti (25) beat Benjamin Bonzi: 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-2
• Hugo Gaston (LL) beat Roberto Carballes Baena: 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4
• Frances Tiafoe (17) beat Borna Coric: 6-3, 7-6 (7), 2-6, 6-3
• Novak Djokovic (1) beat Dino Prizmic (Q): 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4
• Quentin Halys beat Lloyd Harris (Q): 4-6, 7-6 (5), 7-5, 7-6 (2)
• Daniel Elahi Galan beat Jason Kubler (WC): 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3), 4-6, 7-6 (8)
• Sebastian Baez (26) beat J.J. Wolf: 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, 3-0 ret.
• Taylor Fritz (12) beat Facundo Diaz Acosta: 4-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4
• Jesper De Jong (Q) beat Pedro Cachin: 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4
• Christopher O’Connell beat Cristian Garin: 3-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-1, 7-5
• Tomas Machac beat Shintaro Mochizuki (LL): 7-5, 6-1, 7-5
• Andrey Rublev (5) beat Thiago Seyboth Wild: 7-5, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 (6)
• Fabian Marozsan beat Marin Čilić: 6-1, 2-6, 6-2, 7-5
• Francisco Cerundolo (22) beat Dane Sweeny (Q): 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2
• Pavel Kotov beat Arthur Rinderknech: 7-5, 6-1, 6-7 (6), 6-7 (5), 6-3
• Jannik Sinner (4) beat Botic van de Zandschulp: 6-4, 7-5, 6-3
• Matteo Arnaldi beat Adam Walton (WC): 7-6 (5), 6-2, 6-4
• Jaume Munar beat Alexander Shevchenko: 6-3, 6-3, 6-1
• Richard Gasquet vs. Carlos Alcaraz
• Alexander Zverev vs. Dominik Koepfer
• Daniel Evans vs. Lorenzo Sonego
• Sebastian Ofner vs. Thanasi Kokkinakis
• Mackenzie McDonald vs. Juncheng Shang
• Alexander Bublik vs. Sumit Nagal
• Tommy Paul vs. Gregoire Barrere
• Holger Rune vs. Yoshihito Nishioka
• SoonWoo Kwon vs. Lukas Klein
• Marcos Giron vs. Jack Draper
• Max Purcell vs. Mate Valkusz
• Grigor Dimitrov vs. Marton Fucsovics
• Albert Ramos-Vinolas vs. Casper Ruud
• Dusan Lajovic vs. Giulio Zeppieri
• Cameron Norrie vs. Juan Pablo Varillas
• Bernabe Zapata Miralles vs. Jiri Lehecka
• James McCabe vs. Alex Michelsen
• Roman Safiullin vs. Tallon Griekspoor
• Arthur Fils vs. Jiri Vesely
• Laslo Djere vs. Arthur Cazaux
• Felix Auger-Aliassime vs. Dominic Thiem
• Alex De Minaur vs. Milos Raonic
• Omar Jasika vs. Hubert Hurkacz
• Rinky Hijikata vs. Jan-Lennard Struff
• Miomir Kecmanovic vs. Yosuke Watanuki
• Alexandre Muller vs. Hugo Grenier
• Zhizhen Zhang vs. Federico Coria
• Ugo Humbert vs. David Goffin
• Yannick Hanfmann vs. Gael Monfils
• Christopher Eubanks vs. Taro Daniel
• Aleksandar Vukic vs. Jordan Thompson
• Maximilian Marterer vs. Nuno Borges
• Daniel Altmaier vs. Karen Khachanov
• Andy Murray vs. Tomas Martin Etcheverry
• Alejandro Tabilo vs. Aleksandar Kovacevic
• Denis Shapovalov vs. Jakub Mensik
• Zizou Bergs vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas
• James Duckworth vs. Luca Van Assche
• Adrian Mannarino vs. Stan Wawrinka
• Alexei Popyrin vs. Marc Polmans
• Constant Lestienne vs. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina