Ben Shelton validates his emergence with a title. The potential star of American tennis (19th in the world) easily beat Russian Aslan Karatsev (50th) 7-5, 6-1 on Sunday in the final of the ATP 500 tournament in Tokyo, thus winning the first title of his young career.
The match was balanced until 5-5 in the first set, when the 21-year-old American left-hander managed for the first time to take the service of his opponent, who suddenly became nervous despite his greater experience on the circuit.
The second set was one-sided, Shelton becoming more and more confident and enterprising, while Karatsev multiplied the unforced errors. Enraged by his own clumsiness, the 30-year-old Russian smashed his racket to the ground, and completely walked out of his match at the end.
The American assured that he would “keep a cool head” after this first trophy which confirms his potential. “I’m really happy with the way I played this week, but I’m not looking too far into the future,” said the left-hander, stressing that he “really didn’t” think he’d win a title in his first full season on the circuit.
“I expected to be a little more nervous for my first ATP final, but I felt quite calm on court. I focused on the amount of energy I expend, on the moments when I should show my emotions or not, it’s something I’m learning,” added the American, who the New York audience had discovered very fiery at the US Open.
As usual, he relied on his first service ball (80% success), which he regularly sent at more than 200 km/h.
Ben Shelton reached a new important milestone in Tokyo, after reaching the last four at the US Open in September then the quarters at the Masters 1000 in Shanghai around ten days ago. He certainly benefited from an early massacre of top seeds like Casper Ruud (N.8), Alexander Zverev (N.9) or Taylor Fritz (N.10), the outgoing winner of the tournament.
If Shelton did not meet any member of the top 10, his journey in Tokyo was not a walk in the park: he notably came close to elimination in the semi-finals against his compatriot Marcos Giron (79th in the world).
