Ben Shelton is currently preparing for his second successive appearance at the ATP Finals.
Shelton is one of two Americans on the entry list for Turin, joined by Frances Tiafoe. He finished fourth in the Race to Turin, behind ATP rivals Alexander Zverev, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, although the Italian won’t be playing at the tournament after ending his season because of injury.
Shelton heads to Italy on the back of an impressive run at the Paris Masters, where he reached the final. Alcaraz battled past Shelton in France to lift the trophy, but the run should give the American plenty of confidence for the ATP Finals. But so should his head-to-head record against the majority of the field for the event later this month.
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Ben Shelton has a real chance of winning the ATP Finals
Alcaraz extended his win-loss record against Shelton to 4-1 in Paris, while the latter has a nightmare 0-6 record against world number one Zverev. He clearly needs to address those battles going forward, but his other records suggest that a lengthy stay is very much on the cards in Italy.
Shelton has won his only previous meeting with Daniil Medvedev, while his head-to-head with Flavio Cobolli currently stands at 4-2. He also boasts winning head-to-head records against Arthur Fils (2-1) and Tiafoe (4-1). Meanwhile, one unknown is Rafael Jodar, who Shelton has yet to come across throughout his impressive career so far.
- 0-6 vs Zverev
- 1-4 vs Alcaraz
- 1-0 vs Medvedev
- 4-2 vs Cobolli
- 2-1 vs Fils
- 4-1 vs Tiafoe
- 0-0 vs Jodar
He definitely needs to fix his longstanding issues against Zverev and Alcaraz, but more wins against the other players in Turin should give him plenty of belief for likely meetings with the German and the Spaniard. Moreover, he can rely on last year’s experience, which debutants Cobolli, Fils, Tiafoe and Jodar do not have.
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Like his rivals, the American is patiently awaiting his group stage opponents. The draw for the ATP Finals takes place on November 12, with the tournament then running from November 15-22. A total of $5,171,000 is on offer for an undefeated champion at the Inalpi Arena.
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