MATCH REPORT | 2024 Shanghai Masters: Jannik Sinner spoils Ben Shelton's birthday with revenge win
ATP
Unlike last year in which Jannik Sinner was dumped out of the Shanghai Masters by Ben Shelton in the fourth round, he reversed this year's loss to deny the American the biggest win of his career by ranking on Wednesday morning.
Sinner sealed a superb 6-4, 7-6(1) win in an entertaining clash between the pair which produced as expected with classy shotmaking and the Italian at full flight in victory. He has now improved to 4-1 in their Head to Head with the World No.1 not losing to Shelton since their first meeting last year in Shanghai.
"It was very tough. He played only first serves, except one second serve," Sinner said, referring to Shelton's 95 per cent first-serve percentage in the opening set. "I tried to wait a little bit. Obviously playing against him, even if it's a second serve, it's very tough to return.
"But if I look the positive picture, how I ended the match, I tried to stay a bit more aggressive, which I've done, and this hopefully can give me confidence for the for the next round."
Sinner held firm at the start with Shelton winning his first 16 service points and created the first two break points at 2-1. In the ninth game of the first set, he fended off an overhead to earn his first break point and he took it before serving it out.
Sinner fought off a break chance at 2-3 in set two and Shelton again threatened at 3-4. But Sinner stood up to it saving all seven break points against him. This proved the difference as he sailed through narrowly in the last set in a tie-break surviving the barrage of pressure instilled onto him.
"He had chances in the first set, he had chances in a second set," Sinner concluded. "I'm happy with how I handled the difficult and tough situations. It was a very close one."
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Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of TennisUpToDate.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces across the TennisUpToDate network, playing a central role in the daily operation and development of the site.
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