Fasten your seatbelts for a high-voltage clash between America’s Ben Shelton and Russia’s Andrey Rublev in the QF of the 2024 Swiss Indoors. Rublev lost three out of his four matches before entering this tournament. However, in Basel, so far he is looking different. He’s yet to drop a set in this tournament. Shelton hasn’t dropped a set either in Basel so far! He has won four of his last five matches, but the question of the hour is: Can he beat the world number 7?

Ben Shelton vs Andrey Rublev: Preview

Ben Shelton won a title this year at the ATP Houston tournament. He started his campaign in Basel with a victory against Argentina’s Tomas Martin Etcheverry. However, his biggest triumph came in the R16, where he defeated the home veteran, Stan Wawrinka by 7-6(2),7-5. Beating the Swiss star in front of his home crowd was a mammoth task, but he overcame the hurdle with ease. Can he put up yet another stellar performance against a higher-ranked opponent?

Well, Andrey Rublev started his season with a bang by winning the title at the Hong Kong Open. After that, he reached the QF of the 2024 AO. His second title triumph came at the Madrid Open where he beat Canada’s Félix Auger-Aliassime 4-6,7-5,7-5. In Basel, Rublev started his campaign with a win against Portugal’s Nuno Borges and then in the R16 match he outclassed Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo 7-6(3),6-1.

Shelton vs Rublev: Head-to-Head

It’s lefty vs the righty! Andrey Rublev has a better record in the indoor tournaments, while the 23-year-old American, Ben Shelton excels the most on the fast indoor courts. They have never played each other as of yet and this is exactly what makes this contest all the more interesting! So, overall, we could witness one of the most exciting matches in this tournament. Are you ready?

Prediction: Rublev to win in three sets

Andrey Rublev appears to be better equipped in this epic clash! The main reason? His incredible form this season. Although Rublev has managed to win only two titles this season, he has made quite a few runs in his previous tournaments. He is currently ranked 7th in the world and has a win-loss record of 42-22. Ben Shelton, on the other hand, is ranked 23rd in the world and the with a win-loss index of 39-24. So, considering this factor we feel Rublev has a slight edge in this matchup.

Talking about their playing styles, both these players love firing aces! Ben Shelton plays an aggressive brand of tennis with big serves in his armory. He has already hit 562 aces this season and if we look at his numbers in this tournament, Shelton has hit 17 aces and committed just 1 double fault in his previous two matches. Apart from that, he’s quite powerful and consistent on both the forehand and backhand side. He loves moving to the net after hitting his powerful groundstrokes in order to seal the deal against his opponents!

Andrey Rublev, on the other hand, is more of an offensive baseliner with a big forehand. His consistent two-handed backhand is one of his lethal weapons. Talking about his serves, Rublev has a total of 518 aces this season and in this tournament, he has hit 18 aces and committed just 4 double faults in his two matches. Hit the ace and win the race? Perhaps that’s going to be the motto of these two players in this match.

However, talking about his weaknesses, Rublev is often a bit too aggressive in certain situations during his matches and that’s when he generally tends to commit more number of unforced errors. Shelton will be looking to take advantage of that. Who do you think will emerge victorious? Let us know in the comments below: