Eighth seed Ben Shelton beat Mariano Navone 6-4 6-3 to reach the quarter finals at the Kinoshita Group Japan Open Tennis Championships before advancing to the same stage in doubles alongside Jordan Thompson.
Shelton converted three of the five break points he earned and saved three of four break points he faced. The US player is bidding to become the first player to defend the Tokyo title since Pete Sampras in 1993-1994.
Navone converted his third break point in the first game of the opening set. Shelton broke straight back to draw level to 1-1. Both players held on serve until the tenth game when Shelton earned his second break to win the first set 6-4. Shelton broke serve at 15 in the second game of the second set and held on his serve to seal the win on his first match point.
“I thought Mariano Navone was playing really well today and made things difficult. It was a great match, a different feel compared to my first round. I feel like I am really coming into form here”, said Shelton.
Shelton set up a quarter final match against Arthur Fils, who advanced after Matteo Berrettini withdrew from the match due to injury when he was leading 7-6 (7-5). Earlier this week Fils upset this year’s US Open finalist Taylor Fritz.
Shelton teamed up with US Open doubles Jordan Thompson to beat Japanese wild card team formed by Yoshihito Nishioka and Kaito Uesugi 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 in the doubles tournament.
