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Match Details
Fixture: Ben Shelton vs Aslan Karatsev
Date: September 1, 2023
Tournament: US Open 2023
Round: Third round (Round of 32)
Venue: New York, United States
Category: Grand Slam
Surface: Hard
Prize money: $65,000,000
Live telecast: USA - ESPN | Canada - TSN | UK - Sky Sports | India - Sony Sports
Ben Shelton vs Aslan Karatsev preview
Home favorite Ben Shelton will face off against Aslan Karatsev in the third round of the 2023 US Open on Friday.
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Shelton defeated Pedro Cachin in four sets to reach the second round, where he was up against 2020 US Open champion Dominic Thiem. The American rallied from a break down in the first set and even saved a set point as he managed to force a tie-break.
Shelton then dominated the tie-break to claim the opener. Shelton held serve to kick things off in the second set, but Thiem was unable to continue after this point. He was feeling sick for a while and finally chose to retire, thus sending the American into the next round.
Karatsev, meanwhile, moved past Jiri Lehecka to make it to the second round, where he faced Roberto Carballes Baena. The Russian was the better player in the first set as he broke his opponent's serve twice to clinch it.
Carballes Baena responded by capturing the second set to level the proceedings. Karatsev gained the upper hand yet again by bagging the third set. The latter fell behind 5-3 in the fourth set, but claimed the next three games to go 6-5 up.
Karatsev then served for the contest and even held four match points, but wasted them all. Carballes Baena managed to take the set into a tie-break, but the Russian finally got the job done to win the match 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4).
Ben Shelton vs Aslan Karatsev head-to-head
This will be the first meeting between them, so the head-to-head stands at 0-0 for now.
Ben Shelton vs Aslan Karatsev odds
(Odds are sourced from BetMGM)
Ben Shelton vs Aslan Karatsev prediction
Shelton's second round match was cut short due to Thiem falling sick. While he played at a decent level, it's tough to assess his gameplay accurately when his opponent wasn't able to give it his best.
Shelton has now won consecutive matches for the first time since his quarterfinal run at the Australian Open back in January.
Meanwhile, Karatsev hit a whopping 83 winners across four sets in the previous round. If the Russian brings the same level of intense ballstriking in the next round as well, he could easily trounce the 20-year-old.
Aside from a couple of good tournaments, both players have struggled for a better part of the season.
This is a great opportunity for both of them to make a deep run. Karatsev's level can be a tad bit inconsistent and Shelton is still a newbie, though the latter also has the home crowd advantage. This match could swing either way, with the more experienced Russian having a slight edge to make it through.
Pick: Aslan Karatsev to win in five sets.
