Eric Renom/LaPresse – Photo by Icon sport
Flavio Cobolli vs Ben Shelton: ATP Geneva – Round of 16
Two players born in 2002 will go against each other in the round of 16 of ATP Geneva.
Flavio Cobolli Profile
Flavio Cobolli is enjoying his best career ranking, being No. 56 in the world. The Italian is 21–13 for the season and 5–5 on clay.
He is coming off a 7-5, 6-1 win against Arslan Karatsev in the opening round in Geneva.
Last week, he reached the second round in Rome after beating Maximillian Marterer 6-4, 6-2, but then lost to Sebastian Korda 7-6, 4-6, 6-4.
Cobolli’s best results this season were the quarterfinals in Delray Beach and Montpellier.
This is his first appearance in Geneva.
Ben Shelton Profile
Ben Shelton is 15th in the ATP rankings, one spot lower than his career high. The American is 17-9 for the season and 6-2 on clay.
Shelton is coming off a third-round loss to Zhizhang Sheng in Rome after he defeated Pavel Kotov in the opener.
The week before, Shelton made it to the third round in Madrid, where he lost to Alexander Bublik.
Shelton won his second career ATP title this year in Houston, after winning the trophywinning the trophy last season in Tokyo.
This is his second appearance in Geneva after losing the opener to Marco Checcinato last year.
Head-to-Head
This will be the first match between Flavio Cobolli and Ben Shelton.
Prediction and Conclusion
Both Cobolli and Shelton are among the rising stars on the ATP tour, and they are expected to have a breakout tournament in Roland Garros. Shelton has made more appearances on the ATP level than Cobolli, but the Italian is the one who prefers to play on this surface in Geneva. Shelton has one of the best serves on the tour, and even though that does not make much of a difference on clay, it gives him the advantage in this match. Cobolli is capable of staying long in the points and is pretty confident from the baseline. This will be a tough mental battle between two players with different playing styles, and Cobolli’s patience in the crucial points will see him through to the next round.
