Tommy Paul’s hopes of making a charge in the race to the Nitto ATP Finals took a hit when he lost to fellow American Ben Shelton 7-6(4), 6-3 in the quarterfinals of the Japan Open on Friday afternoon.
Paul started the week at No. 12 in the race and had a real chance to move up with Hubert Hurkacz, Casper Ruud, Taylor Fritz, and Alexander Zverev having lost in either the first or second round of this ATP 500 event in Tokyo. Moreover, Holger Rune–who is eighth on the list–lost his opening match in Stockholm.
Now, though, Paul will probably have to make a major run at the Paris Masters in order to have any shot at booking a ticket to Turin. Shelton damaged his compatriot’s hopes by firing 14 aces and winning eight of nine total break points (saved six of seven and converted two of two).
“It was definitely a difficult challenge, as it is whenever you play against a guy as talented and as tough as Tommy Paul,” Shelton commented. “To be able to get through that with a win, it took a lot of mental toughness. I had to stay calm in the first set, serving for the set and then getting broken and having to finish it in the tie-breaker. It was a difficult task but I’m happy to be moving on.”
Next up for the 21-year-old is another countryman in Marcos Giron, who knocked off Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-1, 6-4.
“I’m really happy with today’s performance,” Giron assured. “Felix is obviously a phenomenal player, been Top 10 in the world, won a lot of titles. He’s beaten me down pretty good the last few times we played, so coming in today I knew I had to play well and I had to play aggressive.”
The semifinal matchup in the top half of the Tokyo draw is also a surprising one, as unseeded Aslan Karatsev will go up against Japanese wild card Shintaro Mochizuki.
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nice one, Shelton