Ben Shelton secured his first win of the season at the ASB Classic, overcoming Fabian Marozsan 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the quarterfinals of the tournament. The 20-year-old rising star lived up to his first seed status and returned to the win column after an early exit in the first round in Brisbane.
His opponent, Marozsan, came into the match with a marathon victory over the veteran Gael Monfils in the first round. The Hungarian battled for two hours and 38 minutes to win his first match of 2024 with a score of 6-4, 6-7(6), 7-6(4) and set up a meeting with the young Shelton.
Shelton d. Fabian Marozsan 6-3 6-4 Around this time last year, Ben announced himself as someone to watch when he reached his 1st Slam QF With the way he finished last season, there’s no telling what kind of year he could have in 2024 ✅1st win of 2024 Big Ben is coming. 🇺🇸
In the early stages of the match, Shelton struggled with his first serve, conceding an early break but managed to recover and level the score at 1-1. Despite facing difficulties with his serve, Shelton seized the opportunities presented by Marozsan in the sixth game to take the lead on his third break point, making it 4-2. The young American won his next two games convincingly, closing out the set 6-3.
Although both players had a first serve percentage of 59%, Shelton won 79% of his first serves compared to Marozsan's 63%. Additionally, from the second serve, the American was more effective, boasting a 46% success rate compared to the 36% of the current world No. 65.
Both players looked more secure from the service line at the start of the second set, with the Hungarian winning his first two service games without dropping points. However, in the fifth game of the set, Marozsan found himself in a 0-40 deficit, and Shelton capitalized on his third break opportunity to take a 3-2 lead and later extend it to 4-2 on his serve.
Marozsan held firm on his service games, and Shelton, with his powerful serve, didn't give the Hungarian much of a chance. The American didn't concede any more break opportunities and maintained his lead to secure the victory in straight sets in just over an hour.
In the quarterfinals, Shelton awaits the winner of the match between Robert Carballes Baena (No. 67) and the 7th seed Sebastian Ofner (No. 37).
