Ben Shelton and Miomir Kecmanovic will be going head-to-head for the first time in their careers when they battle for a semifinal spot at the Dallas Open on Friday night.
Both guys were part of a dramatic night session on Thursday, battling to respective three-set victories. Shelton opened with a 7-6(2), 6-7(4), 6-3 defeat of Adrian Mannarino before Kecmanovic upset Tommy Paul 5-7, 6-4, 6-4.
Success this week has come completely out of nowhere for Kecmanovic, who had been winless in 2026 (0-4) before beating Sho Shimabukuro in a third-set tiebreaker to kick off his Dallas campaign. Meanwhile, Shelton’s quarterfinal appearance is no surprise. The ninth-ranked American is coming off a quarterfinal showing at the Australian Open (lost to Jannik Sinner) and he often plays some of his best tennis at home in the USA.
With Shelton continuing to display significant improvement at the baseline, Kecmanovic’s advantage from the back of the court is unlikely to offset the huge edge that the No. 2 seed holds in the serving department.
Pick: Shelton in 2
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Kecmanovic take’s the 1st set 7-5, broke on his 2nd BP in the set at 5-5, then took his 1st SP on serve at 40-15 easily, a huge upset on paper is brewing.
Shelton up a break in the second
Shelton wins
Shelton get’s it 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, still he’s never looked that good at this event, never beating anyone of note, and scraping past guys who are not supposed to be good indoors, Kecmanovic made it easy for him not changing his return game, even so Shelton almost shot himself in the foot anyways.
did you watch his match vs. Manna? By far the best tennis of the week in Dallas.
Excuse me, he almost lost to a player who was 0-7 indoors last year.