Christophe Gateau/dpa

Ben Shelton vs Denis Shapovalov: ATP Shanghai – Second round

American Jannik Sinner will take on the Denis Shapovalov in the second round of the ATP Shanghai.

Ben Shelton Profile

Ben Shelton is 17th in the ATP rankings, four spots lower than his career high. The American is 35-22 for the season and 20-12 on hard surface.

Shelton is coming off a 7-5, 6-7, 7-6 loss to Arthur Fils in the quarterfinal in Tokyo.

Shelton won the title in Houston this season and lost in the final and lost in the semifinals in Washington, Dallas and Auckland.

Last year in Shanghai, Shelton lost 6-7, 6-2, 7-6 to Sebastian Korda in the quarterfinal.

Denis Shapovalov Profile

Denis Shapovalov is currently 101st in the ATP rankings and his career high is No. 10 in the world. The Canadian is 24-22 for the season and 9-9 on hard surface.

Shapovalov is coming off a 7-6, 7-6 win over Lorenzo Sonego in the opening round in Shanghai after going through the qualifiers.

His best result of the season was the quarterfinal in Washington where he lost to Shelton.

This will be his fourth appearance in Shanghai and first since 2019.

Head-to-Head Shelton leads 2-0

• Shelton vs Shapovalov 7-6, 6-3 (2024 ATP Washington, quarterfinal)
• Shelton vs Shapovalov (2024 Wimbledon, third round)

Prediction and Conclusion

Ben Shelton has a solid season and has already found his place among the top 10 players, even though he is in his only third season as a pro. Denis Shapovalov was even better at that age but has fallen out of the top 100 played in the last two seasons. This will be the third match this season between these two players, and Shelton won both of them. He is definitely the better player and has an advantage since Shapovalov already played three matches this week in Shanghai. Shelton will know how to take advantage of that and will win this in straight sets.