ATP Tour

Shelton shakes off slow start, storms on at US Open; Felix wins in four

Ben Shelton overcame a sluggish start Monday night to defeat Tallon Griekspoor and launch his US Open campaign.

The American No. 1, buoyed by a lively Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd, ousted the always-dangerous Dutchman 1-6, 6-1, 7-6(3), 6-2.

Just 18 days ago, Shelton successfully defended his biggest career title at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Canada, where Griekspoor made headlines by stunning Montreal top seed Alexander Zverev in the German’s opening match.

“I started off with a little bit of nerves tonight,” Shelton admitted in his on-court interview. “I found my rhythm at some point through the second set.

“Obviously a lot of credit to Tallon, he’s a difficult player to player to play. He doesn’t give you a lot of rhythm. He has an attacking game style and I found things really difficult for the first set tonight."

The home favourite began the evening session with a nervy start, dropping serve in the opening game and two additional times in the first set. Griekspoor used deep returns to pin Shelton behind the baseline and draw a string of uncharacteristic forehand errors from the lefty.

Shelton, seeded eighth, found his range and began dictating play, while Griekspoor's level dipped throughout the second set. As rain drops began to fall just under an hour into the match, the roof was closed for the remainder of the pair’s first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting.

With Roger Federer, Anna Wintour, Jimmy Fallon and Lindsey Vonn among the celebrities in attendance, Shelton improved his level as the match wore on, eventually advancing after two hours and 35 minutes.

Having earned his 10th career US Open main-draw win, the 2023 semi-finalist will next meet former World No. 6 Hubert Hurkacz. The big-serving Pole defeated Damir Dzumhur 6-4, 4-6, 6-1, 6-1. It will be Hurkacz and Shelton’s first encounter.

Third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime, a two-time semi-finalist in New York, also began his quest for major glory with a hard-fought win. The Canadian dispatched Rinky Hijikata 7-5, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5.

"We've known each other since we were 10 years old," said Auger-Aliassime after his three-hour, 19-minute win. "But this was our first time playing on the Tour. He was causing me a lot of problems. He made me think a lot. The match got quite tense. Both players felt all the emotions as much as the crowd. It was an exciting night of tennis."

Rain suspended play for roughly one hour after Auger-Aliassime dropped the second set. But upon returning to action on Grandstand, Auger-Aliassime did not seem bothered by the interruption, quickly finding his rhythm again and taking control of the match.

Two wins shy of 300 career tour-level victories, the Montreal native let slip two match points when serving for the match at 5-4 in the fourth set, yet rebounded with a break of his own before closing out the first-round match in the ensuing game.

Up next for the 26-year-old is Karen Khachanov, who raced past Roman Andres Burruchaga 6-3, 6-0, 6-1. Auger-Aliassime and Khachanov are tied at 2-2 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series. Khachanov reached the semis in New York in 2022.

In other action, 14th seed Learner Tien defeated Portugal’s Nuno Borges 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 in a squeaky-clean performance. Tien won 49 per cent of his return points, compared to Borges 29 per cent. The 20-year-old also created 16 break chances, converting six.