Two talented American players, Ben Shelton and Tommy Paul square off in the quarterfinals of the 2023 Australian Open on Wednesday.
This is the first trip outside America for Ben Shelton and he has reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. He is also the first American man to reach the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam before the age of 21 since Andy Roddick.
The youngster notched up his first win at a major by defeating Zhizhen Zhang in a five-set thriller in the first round of the Australian Open. Shelton followed it up with a gritty effort against Nicolas Jarry in the second round. The match ended 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-3), 7-5 in favor of Shelton but Jarry produced a fine effort and could have easily pushed the match into the fourth if not the fifth set. Shelton went on to defeat home favorite Alexei Popyrin in the third round with relative ease. The match ended 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 as Shelton marched on. The 20-year-old faced compatriot J.J. Wolf in the fourth round and lost two out of the first three sets. This was before he made a remarkable comeback to win the match 6-7 (5-7), 6-2, 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-4), 6-2.
The 25-year-old has reached the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam for the first time. He has defeated a couple of seeded players en route to the last 8.
The world No. 35 began his campaign with a comfortable win in straight sets against Jan-Lennard Struff. In the second round, Paul produced a gritty display to topple 30th seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in five sets. Paul defeated fellow American Jenson Brooksby in a one-sided affair in the third round. The 2021 Stockholm Open winner defeated 24th seed Roberto Bautista Agut in four sets in the fourth round and made it to the quarterfinals.
The head-to-head scoreline currently stands at 0-0 as the two players have never crossed paths as yet.
Prediction: Tommy Paul to win in five sets.
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