Considered one of the highlights of the new generation, he, however, was once again surpassed by a Top-10 level opponent
Brazilian João Fonseca well he tried to face the American Ben Shelton (6th) this Friday morning, but couldn’t resist the rival’s intensity and ended up being defeated by 2 sets 1, partials of 6/3, 3/6 and 6/3 in 1h49 of play. With the defeat, the young tennis player from Rio said goodbye to his goal of seeking a place in the semifinals of the ATP 500 in Munich.
Considered one of the highlights of the new generation, he, however, was once again surpassed by a Top-10 level opponent. After beating Andrey Rublev at the Australian Open, he stopped at Jack Draper, Taylor Fritz, Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev.
After seeing his chance of seeking his third semifinal in an ATP tournament frustrated, he focuses on the Masters 1000 in Madrid, where he will be seeded due to the absences of Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic.
Qualified for the semifinals, Ben Shelton now awaits the winner of the clash between Canadian Denis Shapovalov and Czech Alex Molcan to get to know his next opponent in the next stage of the European tournament.
The start of the game set the tone for what was to come. Ben Shelton started serving, but found a very focused rival with safe returns. In a very close duel, the American only managed to confirm his serve in the first game after five minutes of play.
The match remained balanced with the tennis players using well-defined strategies. While the American forced his serve well, Fonseca bet on movement and exchanging balls to try to impose himself on the court. In the eighth game, however, Ben Shelton got the first break and took a 5-3 lead.
With the service in hand, he made his category count. With four aces in the entire first set (compared to just one from the Brazilian), he set the score at 6/3 in 36 minutes and opened up an advantage against João Fonseca in this dispute for a place in the semi-finals of the competition.
The second set presented the same plot as the first part with the two competitors making good use of their services so as not to give themselves an advantage in the dispute. In the eighth game, going well to the net and varying his shots, Fonseca got the break and took a 5-3 lead. Confident and with the serve in hand, the Brazilian forced the game well, created difficulties for Shelton and won the second set 6/3, tying the duel.
The third set was played point-to-point, but with the two competitors more determined and defining the games more aggressively. In a game decided in detail, Shelton broke in the sixth game, took a 4-2 lead and managed the advantage to set the set at 6/3 and seal his ticket to the semi-finals of the competition.
