Friday night’s match between Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe should be box office.
The two American stars have hardly put a foot wrong at the U.S. Open so far, and both players relish the limelight, so this contest has all the makings of a classic.
When Shelton, who defeated Tiafoe in last year’s quarterfinals, burst onto the scene at the beginning of 2023, there were plenty in the tennis community who thought the American was going to be a dangerous opponent but that he would be too one-dimensional and rely too heavily on his all-world serve.
While Shelton’s serve is still clearly his best asset, he has become a much more complete player over the last two seasons and has shown to be a much craftier player than anybody gave him credit for in the early stages of his career.
Tiafoe’s serve is also an elite weapon, and the Maryland native loves to play an aggressive brand of tennis that puts his opponents on their back foot.
Some players get thrown off by that, but that should suit Shelton just fine.
In fact, you could argue Shelton would prefer playing aggressive opponents like Tiafoe.
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The path of least resistance against Shelton is to set up defensively and just try to get him to play as many shots as possible, but that doesn’t really mesh with how Tiafoe usually goes about his business.
He wants to keep things moving, which should play right into Shelton’s hands.
THE PLAY: Shelton -146 (BetMGM)
