Dominic Thiem uses clay experience to smash Shelton in Estoril

Ben Shelton played only one match on clay so far in his career and it was very visible in this match with Dominic Thiem using his experience to win the match 6-2 6-2 at the Estoril Open.

It was an interesting match between the youngster and the veteran with Thiem using tactics to completely confuse Shelton. The American still needs to learn how to play properly on clay because today he was quite lost most of the day.

He did break early to take a 2-0 lead but eventually, Thiem changed some things and it resulted in him winning six games in a row. It was a true masterclass of clay tennis taking only 27 minutes.

The second set was quite similar as Thiem once again broke Shelton to take the second set 6-2 as well. The American couldn't use his serve much because Thiem stood very far back in order to return the ball.

Shelton was unable to find a solution for that. Much of his game is still centred around the serve and once that didn't work, things fell apart.