Ben Shelton‘s had a wild start to this year’s Wimbledon. After spending nearly eight hours on court and battling through consecutive five-setters, he somehow finds himself in the third round. He has managed to restore the faith of American fans, which had toned down since April. However, in order to make the 2nd week of the slam, he must go through the Denis Shapovalov challenge.

Shapovalov has struggled to appear at the business end of grand slams in the past two years. His injury woes, short-term slump, and coaching changes piled up to push him outside of the ATP Top 300. However, the Canadian’s high ceiling can never be written off, especially on his beloved grass courts.

Ben Shelton vs Denis Shapovalov: Wimbledon Round 3 Preview

Shelton, despite his underwhelming numbers in the grass-court leadups, has stepped up at Wimbledon. He overcame Mattia Bellucci and Lloyd Harris after trailing 1-2 on both occasions. The recent set of results does indicate that the American loves the best of five format, especially with final set tie-break introduction.

Shapovalov, meanwhile, played three matches on grass this year before Wimbledon. His solitary win came over Matteo Martineau. However, just like Shelton, the Canadian managed to step up in the best of five format. He notched up a solid straight set victory over 19th seed Nicolas Jarry and followed it up with a five set clinic over Daniel Altmaier. Both Shapovalov and Shelton are heading into the round 3 battle with similar form.

Ben Shelton vs Denis Shapovalov: Head-to-Head

Shapovalov and Shelton have never faced each other till date. They will meet for the first time today at Court 2 of Wimbledon.

Prediction:

Shelton and Shapovalov are very identical players. They both possess an attacking playing style, with big lefty serves and enormous forehand. The two players are also prone to making tons of unforced errors and double faults alongside aces and winners. However, on grass, the serve is the most incompressible weapon.

The American averages 3.3 aces per set at Wimbledon this year, compared to 2.25 for Shapovalov. Denis has also committed 19 double faults in eight sets, compared to 11 for Shelton in 10. Despite these numbers, the Canadian has managed to win a whopping 80% points on first serve, marginally outdoing Shelton. He also leads the 2nd serve numbers 59 to 55.

Only some fine margins separate the two players, which is quite a common scenario on grass courts. However, Shapovalov has proved to be more reliable while facing break points and in big moments. Shelton’s return of serve from the ad-side of the court is a major disadvantage for him against big servers which will most likely decide the outcome of today’s clash.

Final Verdict: Denis Shapovalov to win a close 4 set battle. The match is likely to comprise two tiebreakers and plenty of aces (most coming off Shelton’s racquet).