Dominic Thiem vs Ben Shelton Prediction & Betting Tips - ATP US Open

Prediction published on 29/08/2023, 14:35  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 29/08/2023 at 15:36 in Tennis Predictions

Ben Shelton bids to reach the third round of the US Open for the first time in his career. He takes on Dominic Thiem in round two with the winner up against either Aslan Karatsev or Roberto Caballes Baena in the last 32. Shelton began this outdoor hard court Grand Slam ranked 47th but is up to 39th in the live rankings and the ATP Race. His year got off to a great start with a quarter final in the Australian Open, the only other Grand Slam event that is played on this surface. He hasn't had a great deal of success since then with no other ATP quarter finals reached. This is only his third US Open and before this year, he'd never got past round one. He improved on that record with a four set win over Pedro Cachin in the first round. He only won one game in the first set but dropped just nine in winning the next three. His only previous match against Thiem was lost but that was on a clay court.

Dominic Thiem has been as high as third in the rankings but was 81st at the start of this tournament. He's struggled to make his way back up the rankings since time out with an injury. His first round win has taken him up to 72nd in the live rankings and 99th in the Live Race. He had a straight sets win over 25th seed Alexander Bublik in round one. That was a big win for the Austrian as it was his first win in a Grand Slam since the 2021 Australian Open. Since then he'd lost six matches in a row in Grand Slam events. New York means a lot to Thiem because in 2020 he won the US Open but hadn't won a match at Flushing Meadows since winning that final. He didn't play a hard court match in the lead up to his tournament. His time was spent on clay instead as he got to the final in Kitzbuhel. We go Ben Shelton to win this match.