Ben Shelton won the biggest clay-court title of his career in Munich.
Becoming the first American to win a clay-court title above the ATP 250 level since Andre Agassi at the 2002 Italian Open, Shelton defeated Flavio Cobolli, 6-2, 7-5, in the Munich Open final.
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The American was in fine form as he picked up his second title of the season, having already won the Dallas Open in February.
During the latest episode of ‘Served with Andy Roddick‘, the 2003 US Open champion delivered his verdict on Shelton’s latest triumph.
Andy Roddick believes Ben Shelton’s rivals would have taken note of his win in Munich
Roddick was keen to share his thoughts on Shelton’s win in Munich, as he bounced back from a tricky Sunshine Double.
“Ben Shelton coming through. First American man since 2002 to win a [ATP] 500 event or better,” said Roddick.
“Ben looked great.
“I like the fact that he went over there before Madrid.
“We’re talking about the Sunshine Double and the first match out of the gate in Houston when you switch surfaces. Obviously, if you like hard courts and you lose in the Sunshine Double, the solution is to just go win in Munich!”
Ben Shelton’s ATP record since March
- Indian Wells 2R [WIN] vs Reilly Opelka
- Indian Wells 3R [LOSS] vs Learner Tien
- Miami Open 2R [LOSS] vs Alexander Shevchenko
- Houston Open 2R [WIN] vs Zhizhen Zhang
- Houston Open QF [LOSS] vs Thiago Agustin Tirante
- Munich Open 1R [WIN] vs Emilio Nava
- Munich Open 2R [WIN] vs Alexander Blockx
- Munich Open QF [WIN] vs Joao Fonseca
- Munich Open SF [WIN] vs Alex Molcan
- Munich Open F [WIN] vs Flavio Cobolli
Roddick explained why Shelton’s win in Munich was particularly impressive.
“I do think, though, there is a progression of, Ok, you play well in Australia, it’s hot, hard courts, you go to Dallas, which, that’s a low-bouncing, quick-ish court, you go to Munich… Clay in Germany is different, it’s heavy!” he said.
“It’s not a warm day in Paris where the ball is jumping all over the place.
“This is an impressive win.
“This is the kind of win that the rest of the tour takes note of.
“We say statement too much, but this was, at least, may I have your attention for 12 seconds while you’re eating lunch!
“Ben won on slow clay in Munich.
“I was really impressed, I liked what I saw.”
Roddick then looked ahead to Shelton’s chances at the upcoming Madrid Open.
“You would think, tennis doesn’t work this way, but you would think with his game, the way his serve jumps, forehand jumps, that Madrid will be a nice landing spot for his game,” he said.
“But I would probably have said the same thing about Indian Wells for Ben.
“Let’s see how this goes, but progress is being made, so congrats on that one.”
Who will Ben Shelton play at the Madrid Open?
With Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic skipping the Madrid Open, Shelton will arrive in Spain as the fourth seed.
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Receiving a bye into round two, Shelton will begin his campaign against Matteo Berrettini or Raphael Collignon.
He will be expected to win that match, and his third-round tie against Tomas Martin Etcheverry, but might not be so lucky in the last 16.
There, he could meet the Monegasque star, Valentin Vacherot, who reached the semi-finals of his home tournament earlier this month.
Proving his Shanghai Masters win was anything but a fluke, Vacherot continues to perform at the highest level, and Shelton will need to be at his very best if he is to book his place in the quarter-finals.
Ben Shelton’s Madrid Open draw
| Round | Highest-ranked potential opponent | Potential seeded opponents |
| 1R (Bye) | – | – |
| 2R | Raphael Collignon (71) | – |
| 3R | Tomas Martin Etcheverry (29) | [25] Tomas Martin Etcheverry |
| 4R | Valentin Vacherot (17) | [14] Valentin Vacherot, [21] Arthur Fils |
| QF | Lorenzo Musetti (9) | [6] Lorenzo Musetti, [11] Jiri Lehecka, [29] Tallon Griekspoor, [33] Alex Michelsen |
| SF | Jannik Sinner (1) | [1] Jannik Sinner, [5] Alex de Minaur, [9] Andrey Rublev, [15] Tommy Paul, [19] Cameron Norrie, [22] Arthur Rinderknech, [27] Joao Fonseca, [32] Gabriel Diallo |
| F | Alexander Zverev (3) | [2] Alexander Zverev, [3] Felix Auger-Aliassime, [7] Daniil Medvedev, [8] Alexander Bublik, [10] Flavio Cobolli, [12] Casper Ruud, [13] Karen Khachanov, [16] Francisco Cerundolo, [17] Learner Tien, [18] Luciano Darderi, [20] Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, [23] Jakub Mensik, [26] Corentin Moutet, [28] Brandon Nakashima, [30] Ugo Humbert, [31] Denis Shapovalov |
He could then meet a pair of Italians: Lorenzo Musetti and Jannik Sinner in the quarter-finals and semi-finals.
Shelton would arguably be the underdog in both match-ups, as he would in a potential final clash with Alexander Zverev.
But if he can ride the momentum of his title win in Munich, who knows what Shelton can achieve in Madrid?
