ATP Tour

Shelton saves 2 MPs, Fonseca earns debut win in Basel

Ben Shelton earned his first win since the US Open on Tuesday at the Swiss Indoors Basel, where he saved two match points to overcome Kamil Majchrzak 6-7(2), 6-3, 7-6(7) and further improve his Nitto ATP Finals qualification hopes.

Shelton retired during his third-round match against Adrian Mannarino at the US Open due to a left shoulder injury and returned to Tour earlier this month in Shanghai, where he suffered an opening-round exit to David Goffin.

The 23-year-old was not at his free-flowing best against the Pole Majchrzak but found his trademark fighting spirit in the closing stages. Shelton saved two match points in the third-set tie-break from 4/6, eventually converting on his second opportunity to advance after two hours and 43 minutes. The lefty, who advanced to the final in Basel 12 months ago, will next meet Jaume Munar.

"It was such tight margins. He had the match on his racquet and then I had it on mine," Shelton said. "Early in a tournament, on a court as fast as this, you are going to see a lot of matches of fine margins and you need to stay there mentally and stay tough and I did a great job of that.

"He served great, dealt with my serve great and played tough from the baseline. It is the first match that I have won since getting injured and I am just really happy I was able to get some momentum."

Shelton is sixth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, 625 points clear of ninth-placed Felix Auger-Aliassime, who is the first player outside the Top-8 cut. Auger-Aliassime is also in action in Basel.

In a dramatic conclusion to the first set, Shelton saved three break points at 5-5 with some big serving and then was up 0/30 on the Majchrzak delivery when 6-5 up. However, he lost 11 of the last 13 points in the set to fall behind. The American received a medical timeout for blisters in the second set but remained soild, not facing a break point on his serve to force a decider.

Shelton, who struck 44 winners, then saved two match points in the third-set tie-break before he eventually triumphed. Following his victory, Shelton let out a roar in the direction of his father Bryan Shelton, who was watching on.

"It is huge for me," Shelton added when asked about his first win since his injury. "When trying to find your rhythm again, it can be tough. As a tennis player, when you are playing guys at the end of the season in form and you have taken some weeks off and have lost some rhythm [it's tough], but I did a great job in my preparation for this tournament to get to a place where I could be competing."

Earlier, Joao Fonseca defeated defending champion Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard 7-6(6), 6-3 to become the youngest match winner at the ATP 500 event since Denis Shapovalov in 2017.

The 19-year-old moved forward effectively throughout the clash, following in heavy forehands to win 72 per cent (21/29) of net points, according to Infosys ATP Stats. Fonseca will play fellow #NextGenATP star Jakub Mensik in the second round.

Fonseca has enjoyed an impressive first full season on Tour. The 2024 Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF champion won his maiden tour-level crown in Buenos Aires and broke the Top 50 in the PIF ATP Rankings. The Brazilian holds a 22-15 record on the year.

In other action, Marin Cilic overcame Belgian lucky loser David Goffin 7-6(9), 7-5 to reach the second round. The Croatian, who beat Goffin in qualifying in Basel, will next meet fifth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime or Gabriel Diallo. Cilic and Goffin are locked at 5-5 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

Reilly Opelka beat Sebastian Baez 6-3, 6-4 and Valentin Royer downed Raphael Collignon 6-4, 7-6(5).