Ben Shelton Defeated Karatsev To Win His First Tour Title
On Monday, Shelton will reach a career-high position of No. 15 in the ATP rankings.
At the Japan Open on Sunday, Ben Shelton defeated Aslan Karatsev 7-5, 6-1 to win his first professional tournament.
The 21-year-old American, who advanced to his first tour semifinal at the U.S. Open last month, carried over his recent strong form to Tokyo, hitting 18 winners and overpowering his Russian rival with a smashing lefty serve to win the match in 84 minutes.
Shelton stated that for him and his group, that was important. Building his game and winning championships on the ATP circuit has been a top priority since they started. Recently, he has gone deep. The best winners typically take weeks off to recover. They not only reach the finals, but they also win titles. All through the week, they can keep up their level. Although he does not claim to be there yet, it is very remarkable that he was able to string together five consecutive matches in Tokyo for one week.
Ben Shelton, who began the season at No. 96 in the ATP rankings, will move up to a career-high No. 15 on Monday.
Before turning into the first American guy to reach the semifinals at Flushing Meadows since Michael Chang in 1992, the American, during his breakthrough season, got to the quarterfinals at the Australian Open. Last week at the Shanghai Masters, he also advanced to the quarterfinals.
With 20 unforced mistakes, the 30-year-old Russian failed to gain any momentum in the match and challenge Shelton. Karatsev was vying for his fourth championship and first since defeating Andy Murray in Sydney in 2022.
