AUCKLAND: After losing in the first round of previous tournaments, top seed Ben Shelton got his Australian Open preparations back on track Wednesday with a 6-3, 6-4 triumph against Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan at the Auckland Classic.In his first full season on tour in 2023, the American world number 16 reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open, the last four of the US Open, and won his first ATP championship in Tokyo.
However, the 21-year-old finished his season with first-round exits in Vienna and Paris, followed by another first-round loss last week in Brisbane.”It was definitely a tough match playing against Fabian,” Shelton remarked after defeating world no. 65 Marozsan in 71 minutes.”I had a tough win against him at a Challenger tournament last year.” It’s incredibly nice to have a first-round match-up against him; he’s a fantastic talent. It was a good match, and I was glad to get through it.”
Also read: Warner expected to play West Indies T20Is for Australia over ILT20
Shelton, who served 10 aces, will meet Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena in the quarter-finals on Thursday. Carballes Baena defeated Austrian seventh seed Sebastian Ofner 7-5, 6-3, one of four seeds to fall on Wednesday.Argentina’s third-seeded Francisco Cerundolo was beaten 6-1, 6-1 by France’s Alexandre Muller, and eighth-seeded Australian Max Purcell was defeated 6-2, 6-4 by Japan’s Taro Daniel.The fourth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada was defeated by German Daniel Altmaier in his opening singles match of the year, 7-6 (11/9), 7-5.Cameron Norrie, the second-seeded British player, defeated French teenager Luca Van Assche 6-3, 6-7 (6/8), 6-1.Norrie will face Chilean qualifier Alejandro Tabilo in the quarter-finals, who defeated Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp 7-5, 6-3.
