Shelton wins 2020 ITA Fall Circuit in Georgia

Florida freshman Ben Shelton defeated Georgia Tech’s Andres Martin  in straight sets on Monday to win the 2020 ITA Fall Circuit Presented by Gwinnett Tennis in Lawrenceville, Georgia.

Shelton won all five of his matches in the tournament on his way to the crown, including one against fellow Gator and senior captain Duarte Vale in the semifinals, 5-7, 6-4, 10-4.

Shelton and Vale were joined by Andy Andrade and Will Grant at the 32-man tournament, all of whom competed as unattached individuals with no team aspect to the event. With SEC competition not set to begin until Oct. 1, this tournament was separate from the Florida Gators program and the four competed as separate amateurs. Andrade and Grant reached the semifinals and quarterfinals respectively, both losing to the eventual runner-up Martin. 

Shelton won his first two matches in straight sets before facing his first roadblock in the quarterfinals when he lost his opening set 5-7. He stormed back to win the following two sets 6-3, 10-7 to set up his semifinal match with Vale.

Vale overcame a difficult quarterfinal match of his own, which went to a tiebreak after losing his first set as well, 6-7, before winning the next two sets 6-4, 10-3.

Andrade ensured three of the four semifinalists would be Florida Gators when he won his quarterfinal match in dominant fashion, 6-1, 6-2, before falling to Martin in a tiebreak.

Grant won his first match in straight sets and won a tiebreaking third set in the second round, 10-7, in order to move forward to the quarterfinals, where he fell to Martin.

The Gators are scheduled to begin their first official team competition of the season this weekend, Oct. 2-4, at the Auburn Invite.

Contact Ryan Haley at rhaley@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @ryan_dhaley.

Freshman Ben Shelton stands with the trophy he earned after winning the ITA Fall Circuit Presented by Gwinnett Tennis.

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