Ben Shelton reaches career-high ranking after cruising to maiden ATP title in Tokyo

Ewan West
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Ben Shelton Japan Open
Ben Shelton with the Japan Open trophy

Ben Shelton has climbed to a career-high ranking after winning the first ATP title of his career with victory over Aslan Karatsev in the final of the 2023 Japan Open.

Shelton showed impressive composure to earn a 7-5, 6-1 win in his maiden tour-level final in the title match of the ATP 500 tournament in Tokyo on Sunday.

The 21-year-old is now at a career-best position of world No 14 in the Rankings, level on 2,355 points with countryman Frances Tiafoe but listed as being ahead on the ATP website.

The American saved the only break point he faced in the match in the second game to hold for 1-1 and was dominant on serve thereafter. He made a lofty 80% of his first serves, won 80% of the points behind his first delivery and 70% on his second serve, while he also fired 3 aces.

Shelton converted his only break point of the opening set to go up 6-5, before serving the set out. The young star then broke Karatsev three times in the second set to surge to victory over the 30-year-old Russian, who will climb to 37th in the Rankings next week.

The powerful left-hander reacted to his landmark achievement of winning a first title on the ATP Tour after the final in the Japanese capital.

“It did mean a lot to me and my team. You know, we’ve been working really hard since the beginning to build my game into something that could hopefully win titles on the ATP Tour and this is something I’ve been pushing for, I’ve made some great runs lately,” said the American in an on-court interview.

“But you see the great champions, they finish weeks off, they win titles, they don’t just get to the semi-finals or the finals, but they’re able to maintain their level all the way throughout the week.

“And I’m not saying I’m anywhere near there yet, but to be able to do it one week, be consistent for five matches in a row and be able to win a title and do it here in Tokyo – it’s really special for me.

“Definitely really looking forward to this tail-end stretch of the year. I think it’s a great opportunity for me. Earlier in the season, I was losing early a lot of weeks so my match count isn’t too high.

“I actually feel fairly fresh going into this last home stretch, so really looking forward to going back to Europe and finishing this indoor season strong.”

Shelton had prevailed in a 6-7(2), 7-6(5), 6-4 battle over Marcos Giron in the semi-finals of the ATP 500 tournament on Saturday, having been down 2-5 and a double break in the second set.

The 21-year-old has backed up his stunning US Open semi-final run last month in superb fashion. First, he played a starring role in Team World’s dominant Laver Cup victory last month.

The world No 19 then reached the quarter-finals of the Shanghai Masters earlier this month, defeating in-form world No 4 Jannik Sinner in a final set tiebreak in the last 16.

Shelton is set to feature at the ATP 500 event in Vienna next week, where he faces the brutal first round assignment of a rematch with Sinner.

READ MORE: Top coach analyses what makes ‘very unusual’ Ben Shelton serve special

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