Ben Shelton ends losing run to reach Auckland quarter-finals

AUCKLAND – Top seed Ben Shelton got his Australian Open preparations back on track with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan at the Auckland Classic on Jan 10, having suffered a series of first-round defeats in earlier tournaments.

The American world No. 16 reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open, the last four at the US Open and secured a first ATP title in Tokyo in his first full season on tour in 2023.

But the 21-year-old ended his campaign with first-round exits in Vienna and Paris, before another first-up loss last week at the Brisbane International.

“It was definitely a tough match playing against Fabian,” said Shelton after getting past the world No. 61 in 71 minutes.

“I had a tough win against him last year at a Challenger tournament. So really cool to have a match first against him, he’s a great player. It was a fun match, but happy to get through it.”

Shelton, who sent down 10 aces, faces a quarter-final on Jan 11 against Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena, who beat Austrian seventh seed Sebastian Ofner 7-5, 6-3, one of four seeds to tumble out on Jan 10.

“It was a pretty cool experience here,” added Shelton, who reached the second round on his Auckland debut in 2023.

“Last year when I played, we got a lot of rain. I didn’t play any of my matches outside and I didn’t get to see any of (the crowd) out here. So it was a really cool atmosphere, thanks everyone for coming out and it was a blast.”

In other matches, third seed Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina was thrashed 6-1, 6-1 by France’s Alexandre Muller and eighth-seeded Australian Max Purcell lost 6-2, 6-4 to Japan’s Taro Daniel.

Fourth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada lost his first singles match of the year 7-6 (11-9), 7-5 to German Daniel Altmaier.

Second-seeded Briton Cameron Norrie survived a scare from French teenager Luca van Assche, before winning 6-3, 6-7 (6-8), 6-1.

In women’s tennis, world No. 5 Jessica Pegula rallied from a slow start to overcome 69th-ranked Bernarda Pera and set up a quarter-final against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova at the Adelaide International.

The second seed needed nearly 2½ hours to win the all-American battle 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 at Memorial Drive.

After splitting the first two sets, Pegula started the deciding set with a break, but lost it in the sixth game before breaking again for a 4-3 lead.

She dug deep to get through a seven-minute penultimate game, saving four break points for 5-3 before taking the win.

“She was hitting well in the first set, there was not a lot more I could do,” said Pegula.

“I stayed relaxed and tried not to get frustrated. I want to keep improving and have a good mindset. It’s a brand new year and I want to find my confidence for the Australian Open.”

She will next meet 2021 French Open finalist Pavlyuchenkova, who defeated Katerina Siniakova 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Jelena Ostapenko had an injury scare before overpowering Caroline Garcia 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 to also reach the last eight. Leading 5-4 in the opening set, she took a medical timeout after complaining of pain in her left thigh. She returned to secure the set, but Garcia forced the decider with her spirited comeback in the second.

Ostapenko, playing with a strapped thigh, eventually made her fourth match point count to prevail.

“I’m really happy that I won. I’m a real fighter, and I never give up. It was a little bit tough to play because of the pain, but I somehow managed and won,” said the Latvian, who meets Marta Kostyuk for a place in the last four.

Australian Open title hopeful Elena Rybakina, meanwhile, beat Cristina Bucsa of Spain 6-3, 7-5.

The world No. 3 Kazakh will take on the winner of the all-Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova-Veronika Kudermetova clash. AFP, REUTERS