First-round action at the Montreal Masters wraps up on Wednesday, when seeds Ben Shelton and Felix Auger-Aliassime take the court. Shelton is going up against Alexander Bublik, while Auger-Aliassime faces Flavio Cobolli.
Alexander Bublik vs. (11) Ben Shelton
It will be a showdown between National Bank Open doubles partners when Shelton and Bublik go head-to-head for the third time in their careers on Wednesday. They teamed up to get past Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten on Monday, leading by a set and a break when the Wimbledon champions retired. Now they will be on opposite sides of the net, with Bublik looking to beat Shelton for the third time in three tries. The 25th-ranked Kazakh prevailed 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 at the 2023 Rome Masters and 3-6, 7-6(2), 6-4 earlier this year in Madrid.
At some point you have to think Shelton will turn the tide, and that point is likely now. The 14th-ranked American has thrived on relatively quick hard courts in the early stages of his career, reaching the quarterfinals of the Australian Open and the semis of the U.S. Open in 2023 to go along with an ATP 500 title in Tokyo. In decent form currently, Shelton advanced to the last 16 at Wimbledon and the semis this past week in Washington, D.C. Bublik, on the other hand, is 10-13 dating back to the Dubai final in early March. Whereas Shelton has already found his footing on hard courts this summer, Bublik is switching surfaces after getting wiped out by Taylor Fritz in round one of the Paris Olympics.
Pick: Shelton in 2
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(14) Felix Auger-Aliassime vs. Flavio Cobolli
Auger-Aliassime will be making a quick turnaround following a mostly successful Olympic campaign at Roland Garros. The 19th-ranked Canadian won bronze in mixed doubles with Gabriela Dabrowski and finished one spot off the podium in men’s singles after upsetting both Daniil Medvedev and Casper Ruud (he also played men’s doubles with Milos Raonic and lost in round one to eventual bronze medalists Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul of the United States).
Despite the heavy workload in Paris, Auger-Aliassime won’t necessarily be at a big rest disadvantage on Wednesday. Up first for the 14th seed is Cobolli, who is coming off a runner-up showing in Washington, D.C. It was a grueling week for the 33rd-ranked Italian, who won back-to-back matches in third-set tiebreakers (including from five match points down against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina), beat Shelton in three sets in the semifinals, and lost to Sebastian Korda in three on championship Sunday. Cobolli knocked off Auger-Aliassime 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 in their only previously meeting at the Acapulco event back in February, but Canada’s best hope this week has a great chance to get revenge in front of the home crowd.
Pick: Auger-Aliassime in 2
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WWW?
Slightly bizarre aside, the beneficiaries of the ‘unjustly’ defaulted are now playing each other.
Shelton in two
FAA to go a few rounds here, just my gut
Shelton didn’t benefit from Shapovalov’s default. That match was over anyway.
He had 3mps so yeah.Seems a bit harsh to default him it would never have affected the result.
Gator Chomp, in 3; AA in 3.