Former Florida men’s tennis phenom Ben Shelton cruised to another win at the US Open Championships in New York. The No. 13 player in the world defeated Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4, Wednesday.
The match provided some of the trickiest conditions that Shelton and his opponent had seen at the tournament thus far.
Playing in the middle of the day on the Grandstand court at the US Open, there is no possibility for shade outside of each player’s umbrella.
Shelton picked up right where he left off from his First Round win into Wednesday’s match.
Throughout this straight-set victory, Shelton showed his ability to play both from the baseline and at the net. Entering the match, Shelton used his powerful serve to his advantage and tallied 16 aces.
Shelton won 84% of the points when his first serve landed in. Up until this round of the tournament, the former Gator had not had his service game broken, indicating where a majority of his points have come from.
This year’s US Open has new rules regarding how and when spectators can move throughout the stands during play. Tennis, being a respect-based sport, has rules in place for spectators to respect the play ongoing.
Such rules indicate not to make notable noises or distractions throughout the points. One of the rule changes this year was in relation to the relaxing of crowd movement in between points.
Bautista Agut wasn’t happy with the movement and distractions of the crowd that were in the stands. He talked to the umpire and tried to hold up play. A couple of points prior, Bautista Agut made a gesture towards the umpire signaling as if he was not happy with the commotion coming from the fans. After delay, play continued and Shelton went on to win the match.
Shelton returns to the court against fellow American Frances Tiafoe Friday, Aug. 30th. Shelton and Tiafoe played twice prior, once on the clay in Houston and the other in last year's US Open Quarterfinals.
In 2023’s US Open Quarterfinal, Shelton came out victorious 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 , 6-2, to move on to the semifinals where he lost to No. 2 Novak Djokovic.
“I’m really looking forward to it,” Shelton said in an interview with ESPN+. “Obviously, we had a battle in the quarters here last year, so I’m sure it’ll be another popcorn type match.”
The time and court Shelton’s next match is to be determined.
Contact Carston Handy at chandy@alligator.org. Follow him on Twitter at @carston_handy.
Carston Handy is a junior journalism major with a focus in sports and media. Fall 2024 marks his first semester reporting sports with the Alligator. In his free time he enjoys spending time with his fiancé and their dog. He also enjoys playing a bunch of sports, including pickleball, basketball and soccer.
