Houston (USA) – Top seed at the ATP 250 in Houston, North American Ben Shelton already has a defined opponent for his debut in the clay season. The current 16th in the world faces the Belgian Zizou Bergs, 111th in the ranking, who defeated the host from qualifying Patrick Kypson by 7/6 (7-5) and 6/3.
Bergs, 24, has the best ranking of his career. Winner of seven challengers, the Belgian scored his third ATP victory and is recognized for his versatile style, betting on many improvisational plays and skill at the net.
In turn, Shelton begins the sequence of tournaments on clay after 11 wins and seven losses. He reached the round of 16 at the Masters 1000 in Indian Wells, but didn’t make it past the third round in Miami. The 21-year-old left-hander made two semifinals at the start of the season, in the 250 in Auckland and Dallas.
Who also won in this Monday’s round was the North American Brandon Nakashima, 22 years old and 92nd in the ranking, who defeated the Croatian Duje Ajdukovic, 115th ranked, by 6/1 and 6/4. His next opponent will be Australian Rinky Hijikata, ranked 80th in the world, who eliminated local 5th seed Christopher Eubanks, ranked 41st, in a duel of two tiebreaks, by 7/6 (7-4) and 7/6 (7-2).
In the round, JJ Wolf scored another victory for the home players. He beat Swiss qualifier Alexander Ritschard by 6/3, 2/6 and 6/4. Wolf could face local 7th seed Marcos Giron, 51st in the world, or Canadian Denis Shapovalov, former top 10 and currently 121st in the rankings.
