Ben Shelton added to his season of firsts in confident style on Tuesday at the Millennium Estoril Open, where the #NextGenATP American prevailed 7-5, 7-5 against Constant Lestienne in his first professional singles match on red clay.
Until he competed in a first-round doubles match on Monday at the clay-court ATP 250, Shelton represented a rare case of a Top 40 singles player who had never competed professionally on the surface. The World No. 39 played two ITF World Tennis Tour events on green clay in 2021 but had previously only competed on hard courts on the ATP Tour and ATP Challenger Tour.
Despite falling to defeat in that doubles match alongside his former University of Florida Gators teammate Duarte Vale, Shelton showed few nerves upon returning a day later for his first-round singles match. The eighth seed took down the World No. 63 Lestienne in 95 minutes in Portugal.
The American earned decisive breaks of Lestienne’s serve in the 11th game of both sets to improve to 7-6 for the year. The tall lefty’s serve proved crucial to the win, with Shelton’s ability to give extra kick to his delivery a major factor in him winning 83 per cent (35/42) of points behind his first serve.
Shelton reached the quarter-finals at January’s Australian Open, during his first trip leaving the United States. His trip to Portugal represents his first time in Europe, and the 20-year-old acknowledged he was relishing another new experience in his whirlwind introduction to life on the ATP Tour.
“I’m really happy to be here in Portugal,” said Shelton in his on-court interview. “I want to thank the whole crowd for their support today. I was hearing the chants. I’m really enjoying my time here, so hopefully I can keep it going.”
Shelton will face former World No. 3 Dominic Thiem in his second-round match in Estoril. The 17-time tour-level titlist Thiem beat his fellow Austrian Sebastian Ofner 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 later on Tuesday.
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Sixth seed Miomir Kecmanovic also prevailed in straight sets on Tuesday. The Serbian eased past Luca Nardi 6-4, 6-1 on his Estoril debut, converting five of 11 break points he earned en route to his ninth tour-level victory of the year.
Kecmanovic will take on 2021 champion Albert Ramos-Vinolas or Jurij Rodionov in the second round, where Hubert Hurkacz will meet Bernabe Zapata Miralles. Spain’s Zapata Miralles booked a clash against the second-seeded Hurkacz with a 6-4, 6-2 victory against Portuguese qualifier Henrique Rocha.
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