Ben Shelton out of Rome, beaten by Bublik

Ben Shelton played another fair match on clay but he wasn't able to get it done losing to Alexander Bublik 4-6 6-1 2-6 in the first round of the Rome Open.

Shelton has been playing a lot of tennis on clay this year and he's been fairly decent considering that he had never played on red clay before. This was another solid match but ultimately he didn't have enough to take down Bublik who has been playing a tiny bit better compared to the early goings of the season.

The first set went to Bublik 6-4 as the Kazakh player played a bit better overall. He certainly was better in the crucial rallies and there was only 2 or three that realistically swung the match. He converted the break point he had while saving the one Shelton had. The second set was a proper storming back by Shelton as he smashed Bublik 6-1.

He was greatly helped by Bublik who had his typical shenanigans but he also didn't serve well which played into Shelton's aggressiveness. The opposite happened in the final set as Shelton had far too many mistakes in that one. Over 10 errors and fewer than winners will put you in a tough spot and he couldn't recover.