Tommy Paul vs Ben Shelton Prediction & Betting Tips - ATP Japan Open

Prediction published on 19/10/2023, 14:15  by Devesh Jaganath in Tennis Predictions

World number 12 Tommy Paul will take on 18th-ranked Ben Shelton in the quarter-final of the ATP Tokyo Open on Friday. The winner of this match will face either Felix Auger-Aliassime or Marcos Giron in the final four contest. This is the third time this year these two will meet on the hard court, and they have both won one apiece. This is turning into an interesting rivalry between the Americans, and Paul was on the wrong side of the scoreline in the last meeting at the US Open. Since then, the 26-year-old only lost to Daniil Medvedev in the first round in Beijing and to Andrey Rublev last week in Shanghai. Notably, with the exception of Shelton, Paul has not lost to any player ranked lower than himself in his last five tournaments. This will be his biggest challenge in this competition, having beaten Daniel Altmaier and Mackenzie McDonald in the previous two rounds. Paul is 44-26 for the year and 29-12 on the hard surface. He is also the bookmakers’ favourite to win this match. 

Meanwhile, Shelton has continued his good form here in Tokyo after a forgettable first half of the season. He was excellent at the US Open and reached the last eight immediately after that at the Shanghai Masters last week. En route to the last eight in this tournament, Shelton beat Taro Daniel and Jordan Thompson in the two previous rounds. However, both those matches were far from straightforward and required three sets to decide. In fact, each of Shelton’s last five matches have gone to a third set. Still, with his upturn in form over the last couple of months, the American has brought his record into the green for the year. He is now 25-24 and 18-13 on his preferred hard surface. The 21-year-old beat Paul (6-4 6-3 4-6 6-4) in New York six weeks ago, but can he defy the odds again in this one?