Ben Shelton edged past Pierre Hughes Herbert 7-6 (7-4) 7-5 in 50 minutes to reach the quarter finals at the BOSS Open in Stuttgart.
Shelton is on the verge of reaching the top ten for the first time in his career. The US player is looking to join his countrymen Tommy Paul and Taylor Fritz in the top 10. Only Dani Medvedev can pass Shelton this week. Medvedev is the top seed in s’Hertogenbosch and will take on Adrian Mannarino on Thursday.
Shelton pushed eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz to four sets at Roland Garros.
Sheltion saved all four four points he faced in the second set and converted his first break point in the 11th game of the second set to take a 6-5 lead and served out the match Shelton to set up a quarter final match against Jiri Lehecka who beat Jan Lennard Struff 6-4 7-5.
Shelton played just his 14th career match on grass. He has a record of 7 wins and 7 defeats on this surface.
“It’s different for everybody. It depends on how many matches you get, how quickly you’re able to have an open mind and adapt to the surface.I feel way ahead of where I was at this time last year with my movement and grass-court play. I have a lot of hope with what I can accomplish on the grass and I’m really looking forward to seeing what I can do the rest of the week here in Stuttgart”, said Shelton
Taylor Fritz beat Quentin Halys 6-3 7-6 (8-6) to reach the quarter final.
