Ben Shelton’s first clay-court match in almost a year: How he performed

Ben Shelton got off to a good start on clay at the Houston Open, picking up his first win in almost a year.

Shelton came into the tournament needing just one win to overtake Taylor Fritz as America’s top-ranked player, and he managed it against Zhang Zhizhen in front of a home crowd.

It wasn’t an easy match, though. Zhang pushed him hard, but Shelton came through with a 7-6(7-5), 7-6(7-3) victory after nearly two hours on court.

He now faces Thiago Agustin Tirante next, but before looking ahead, he took some time to reflect on his transition back to clay from hard courts.

Ben Shelton makes a strong start in Houston

Shelton reflected after the match: “It was my first match in almost a year on clay.

“I didn’t feel that comfortable playing from the baseline yet, it’s just something that’s going to take time and take a few matches.

“I knew I had to be effective with my serve tonight and hit a few aces, and I’m happy that I did.”

While he said “a few aces,” what he really meant was 21, which summed up his serving display throughout the close contest.

His last appearance on clay was at the French Open in 2023 when he reached the quarterfinals. This win shows he’s settling back into form despite the long break from this surface.

Shelton leans on serve in first match back on clay

After the win, Shelton said: “It was my first match in almost a year on clay. I didn’t feel that comfortable playing from the baseline yet. It’s just something that’s going to take time and take a few matches.

“I knew I had to be effective with my serve tonight and hit a few aces. And I’m happy that I did.”

Saying “a few aces” might have been an understatement – he fired down 21 of them during the match. Beyond that, his numbers were solid across the board, posting 72% on his first serve percentage and winning more than 74% of those points too.

The last time he played competitive tennis on clay was nearly a year ago at Roland Garros when he made it all the way to the quarterfinals before losing out to Jannik Sinner.

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