Jan-Lennard Struff vs Ben Shelton Prediction & Betting Tips - ATP Mutua Madrid Open

Prediction published on 28/04/2023, 08:19  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 28/04/2023 at 09:19 in Tennis Predictions

32nd seeded Ben Shelton bids to reach the third round of the Madrid Masters for the first time. He's up against lucky loser Jan-Lennard Struff in this outdoor clay court tournament. The winner will face either Dusan Lajovic or the seventh seed Felix Auger-Aliassime in round three. Shelton has been steadily climbing the world rankings this year and began 2023 ranked 96th.  He was 38th at the start of this week and is up three places in the live rankings. A seeding at Roland Garros is still a possibility. The American reached the last eight of the Australian Open but has been inconsistent since then. His ranking keeps improving though as he has no points to defend in most the events he's playing for the first time. On clay, Shelton has only won two of the five matches he's played this year with just one last 16 appearance.

Jan-Lennard Struff started the Madrid Masters ranked 65th but is up to 59th in the live rankings. Struff has already lost once in this tournament being beaten by Aslan Karatsev in the final qualifying round. After withdrawals he was given a lucky loser spot in the main draw. He made the most of that reprieve with a straight sets win over Lorenzo Sonego with only four games lost. His clay court season has been a successful one so far and he got to the last eight in Monte Carlo with four wins over top 50 ranked players including Alex de Minaur and Casper Ruud. He has more experience than his opponent on this surface and can get the win here.