American Ben Shelton raised his level after a sluggish opening set to defeat Norway’s Casper Ruud, producing spells of monstrous tennis in a 3–6, 6–4, 6–3, 6–4 victory.
The impressive victory sets up a quarter-final clash with two-time defending champion Jannik Sinner. Shelton will be eager to avenge his defeat to the Italian in last year’s semi-finals, where he fell in straight sets to the World No. 2.
Ruud began the match the stronger of the two, his forehand in particular causing Shelton all sorts of problems.
But as the contest wore on, Shelton found his range, and as the Norwegian’s forehand began to misfire, the American produced spells of sublime tennis to overpower his opponent in four sets.
Shelton spoke on court immediately after his win, turning his attention to his upcoming rematch with Sinner.
“It’s what you look forward to the most. I wanted to be back here, I wanted to give myself another shot. I wanted to improve a lot of things that I didn’t do so well last year and leave it all out on the court.”
The opening game lasted seven minutes, with Ruud forced to dig deep as he saved two break points. The next two games passed routinely on serve before Ruud struck first, sealing a break with a brilliant forehand winner followed by a double fault from Shelton.
Shelton’s big shots were misfiring, and Ruud maintained his level to move 5–2 ahead. The American held to force Ruud to serve for the set, but the Norwegian showed no nerves, looking fully locked in as he converted on the first of two set points to clinch the opener 6-3.
The opening three games of the second set went with serve, but there were signs of Shelton beginning to find his range, none more so than when he moved 2–1 ahead with a brutally whipped cross-court winner. Ruud then suffered his first real wobble on serve, but composed himself well to keep the set level.
The next five games stayed on serve without much fuss, leaving Ruud serving at 4–5 to stay in the second set. With his confidence growing, Shelton forced errors from the Norwegian, and when Ruud shanked a forehand on set point, the American let out a guttural roar as the match was levelled.
The third set remained finely balanced early on, with both players holding serve and maintaining a good level.But Shelton, now in full showman mode, dragged what looked a routine Ruud hold to deuce with a rasping cross-court backhand winner, before the Norwegian faltered with a poorly timed double fault and a forehand sent long to hand the break to Shelton. The 8th seed consolidated comfortably, closing out the set 6–3.
Shelton came out swinging in the fourth set, eager to finish the job, but Ruud held firm under pressure, saving two break points to edge ahead 2–1. With the American cruising through his service games, the pressure was quickly coming back on the 12th seed.
That pressure eventually told, as a run of stray shots proved costly and, at the sixth time of asking in the set, the American broke to move 4–3 ahead.
From there the outcome looked inevitable, with Shelton earning three match points and sealing victory at the first attempt, finishing with a missile of a cross-court forehand winner after a near-perfect service game.
Shelton showed his appreciation to the crowd in his on-court post-match interview, before reflecting on what he felt had been his biggest improvements since his first appearance in Melbourne.
“For me atmosphere is everything. I want to thank you guys for staying out here so late.
“I think mentally for sure, a lot more focused, a lot more locked in to the type of player that I am, what my game style is and what I do well. I’m honest with myself but I’m confident with my abilities. My confidence grows each and every year.”
