If you’re an American tennis fan, then you surely must have come across the name of Ben Shelton multiple times over the past twelve months. After a disappointing exit at the Italian Open earlier this month, he is now all set to step onto the court at the R16 of the Geneva Open. He will take on Italy’s Flavio Cobolli in an exciting matchup ahead of the 2024 French Open. Can Shelton showcase a dominating brand of tennis in Geneva before he takes his flight to Paris?

Ben  Shelton has already won a title this year. He defeated his compatriot Frances Tiafoe in a three-set thriller at the ATP Houston last month. It will be interesting to see if he can get another winning spree in a clay court event in Geneva. But at first, he needs to overcome this Italian hurdle at the R16.

Ben Shelton vs Flavio Cobolli: Preview

Apart from the title triumph in Houston, Ben Shelton has reached two SFs and one QF in his previous tournaments this year. But in the Italian Open, he faced an early exit at the hands of China’s Zhang Zhizhen. The Chinese tennis star defeated the American heartthrob by 6-2,6-4. Ben Shelton hit four aces and committed six double faults against Zhizhen. He won 70% of his first serve and 62% of his second serve in that match. However, Shelton failed to convert his two breakpoints against Zhang Zhizhen.

Ben Shelton has hammered a staggering 211 aces this season and has committed just around 91 double faults. He has won 88% of his service games and just 16% of his return games in the 2024 season so far. Can the ‘Big Ben’ get the bigger stride in the R16 of the Geneva Open?

Flavio Cobolli may well have this answer! Cobolli started the season pretty well reaching the QF in two of the tournaments this year. But after that, he performed pretty ordinary in the rest of his tournaments. However, in Geneva, he got off to a winning start by defeating Russia’s Aslan Karatsev by 7-5,6-1 in their R32 match. The Italian hit five aces and committed just a single double fault in the entire match.

His first serve win percentage was 72% but it dropped to 59% on the second serve. Flavio Cobolli managed to convert five of his fifteen breakpoints in that match. If we look at his overall stats for this season, Cobolli has fired 122 aces and committed 71 double faults so far this season. He has won 76% of his service games and just 22% of his return games this year. But who has the edge in the H2H?

Shelton vs Cobolli: Head-to-Head

Well, they haven’t met each other earlier on the Tour, so this will be their first meeting and hopefully, there will be many more to come next! Both Ben Shelton and Flavio Cobolli are immensely talented players. Shelton is the pride of American men’s tennis and Cobolli is the pride of Italians. Shelton plays left-handed while Cobolli is a right-hander. So, this match is really going to be an interesting contest to watch.

Prediction: Shelton to win this match by two sets

Ben Shelton currently has a win-loss record of 17-10 this season, while it’s just 13-12 for Flavio Cobolli. So, looking at the current form the number 15 looks a bit ahead of the number number 56. Shelton’s biggest weapon has been his fiery serves. He is powerful and consistent on both the forehand and backhand side. But the question is- can Flavio Cobolli counter these with his own armory?

Flavio Cobolli loves playing on the clay courts. In order to get any advantage from this match, the Italian also needs to stop Ben Shelton from frequently coming to the nets to finish the points. Cobolii won’t get many chances but he needs to convert whatever he gets into fruitful results to stand a chance in this match. But looking at the current form and overall stats, Ben Shelton looks to be coming out of this enticing encounter with flying colors.