Ben Shelton’s ATP Finals hopes still alive but he faces major obstacle

Ewan West 22 Oct 2023 3:54 PM

Ben Shelton on court in Tokyo

Ben Shelton kept his slim hopes of qualifying for the ATP Finals in Turin alive by winning his maiden ATP title in Tokyo, but he must next overcome major stumbling block.

The 21-year-old produced a composed display to clinch a convincing a 7-5, 6-1 triumph over 30-year-old Russian Aslan Karatsev to win the Japan Open on Sunday.

The American, who was appearing in his first final on the ATP Tour, is now at a career-high position of world No 14 in the Live ATP Rankings following the ATP 500 tournament.

The 500 points from his victory have taken Shelton to 14th place in the ATP Race to Turin Rankings and onto 2,275 points. This puts him 835 points behind Holger Rune, who currently occupies the eighth and final qualification spot. Taylor Fritz, Casper Ruud, Hubert Hurkacz, Tommy Paul and Alex De Minaur fill the spots between Rune and Shelton.

Rune has lost 10 of his 11 matches since Wimbledon and his shaky form presents an opportunity for the players below him in the Race to take advantage. The Dane also has the pressure of defending runner-up and title points at his next two events in Basel and Paris-Bercy respectively.

Ben now #14 in race to Turin and has a chance to qualify 😮 pic.twitter.com/HAtWUYuMVE

— Sylvia 🌻 (@melodymakernz) October 22, 2023

A significant challenge awaits Shelton, though, at the Vienna Open ATP 500 tournament – where he is set to feature next week. He faces second seed and world No 4 Jannik Sinner, who is having a strong 2023 season, in the opening round.

Shelton did, however, defeat Sinner 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(5) in the pair’s only previous meeting in the last 16 of the Shanghai Masters earlier this month, ending the Italian’s seven-match winning streak. Sinner had earned hugely impressive consecutive wins over Grigor Dimitrov, Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev to win the China Open in Beijing at the start of October.

The 21-year-old will almost certainly need to make deep runs in both Vienna, and at the upcoming ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Paris, to have a chance to make his ATP Finals debut this year. He will likely need to add to the title he won in Tokyo with at least one more big tournament victory to overtake the players above him.

Speaking after his Japan Open win, Shelton said he would try to let the title “sink in” before his appearance in Austria next week.

“I’m really happy with the way I competed this week and I’m not sure what the future holds. I’m just looking forward to tomorrow, looking forward to my next tournament,” said the American in a post-tournament interview.

The rising star also discussed the calmer approach he adopted during his run in the Japanese capital.

“How much energy I spend, when to show emotion, when not to show emotion, it’s something that I’m kind of learning and figuring out for myself,” he explained.

“Compared to most of my weeks out on tour, I was much quieter, more subdued this week. I think it’s all about finding the balance.”

The 2023 ATP Finals will be held from November 12-19 at the Pala Alpitour in Turin, Italy. World No 1 Novak Djokovic is the defending champion.