SHANGHAI – US Open semifinalist Ben Shelton fought back from a set down to defeat Jannik Sinner on Tuesday and reach the Shanghai Masters Last 8 in one of the biggest victories of his young career.
The 19th seed emerged from an excruciatingly tight deciding set to battle through, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/5), and will face fellow American Sebastian Korda in the quarterfinals.
Shelton, who lost to Novak Djokovic in the Last 4 in New York last month, did his now-trademark “dialled-in” celebration to mark his first time into the quarterfinals of a Masters.
The 26th-seeded Korda fended off a late fightback from the 20th seed Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina to go through, 7-5, 7-6 (8/6).
Shelton, who turned 21 on Monday, endured a torrid opening set against the in-form sixth seed Sinner, summed up by his double fault to concede the seventh game of an error-strewn first stanza.
The Italian Sinner, fresh from winning the China Open in Beijing, clinched the opening set with a well-placed smash.
The athletic Shelton was a changed man in the second, sealing the set with an ace and a roar, and then immediately put Sinner under the cosh to start the decider.