Ben Shelton vs Marcos Giron Prediction & Betting Tips - ATP Japan Open

Prediction published on 20/10/2023, 06:39  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 20/10/2023 at 07:40 in Tennis Predictions

The Japan Open semi-finals don't include any seeded players. Ben Shelton is the highest ranked player of those remaining and takes on qualifier Marcos Giron in the last four of this hard court tournament. Possible opponents in the final are Aslan Karatsev, Alexei Popyrin or Shintaro Mochizuki. Shelton began this tournament ranked 19th and is up two places in the live listings. A win for Shelton will take him into his first ATP Tour singles final. Last year saw him reach six Challenger Tour event finals, winning three of them and all on hard courts. 2023 has seen him rise up the rankings after a quarter final in the Australian Open and getting to the last four in the US Open. The 21-year-old also made it to the last eight in last week's Shanghai Masters. That form has continued in Tokyo with but it's not been an easy run to the last four. The first two rounds saw him have to come from a set down to get through. He then beat fifth seeded Tommy Paul in straight sets.

Marcos Giron was 79th in the rankings at the start of this Japan Open. His run to the last four has taken the American up to 56th in the live rankings. Beating Shelton will see him go up to 42nd, seven places higher than his career best. The 30-year-old is in his first ATP Tour semi-final this year but had previously reached three hard court quarters in the early part of this year. Recent form hasn't been so hot and this is the first time he's won two matches in a tournament since the Toronto Masters in August. Giron had to win two qualifying matches to get into the main draw. Since then he's beaten the second seeded Casper Ruud (far better on clay) and the eighth seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime. He lost one set in the first round against Yoshihito Nishioka. Giron won his only match against Shelton earlier this year but his opponent can get revenge here.