Ben Shelton, who will play his first-round match at the Dallas Open on Monday, took time to share a story about a fellow Florida Gators tennis alumnus, Andy Andrade, who helped Ecuador create history against the 28-time Davis Cup champions, Australia, in the opening round of the qualifiers.
Ecuador was 1-0 up against Australia when Andrade came to play his singles match against James Duckworth and sealed the win with an ace, giving his team a 2-0 lead. After their doubles win, Ecuador sealed the tie with a dominant 3-0 scoreline, and the entire contingent leaped for joy, hugging each other with tears in their eyes.
Shelton shared the video of Andrade hitting the final ace of his singles match on his Instagram story. With this historic win, Ecuador has now advanced to the second round of the Davis Cup qualifiers and will face Great Britain between September 18th and 20th.
Shelton is gearing up to headline the Dallas Open, which will be his first tournament since the heartbreaking loss to Jannik Sinner in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open two weeks ago. The World No. 9 is set to play in both singles and doubles at the tournament, starting Monday.
Ben Shelton Has a Good Chance of Winning the Dallas Open
The Dallas Open is one of the two ATP 500 events that start in tandem, the Rotterdam Open being the other. Shelton is seeded No. 2 in the event behind fellow American Taylor Fritz. The 23-year-old is set to face tough competition in the opening round against Canadian Gabriel Diallo.
Should the American get past his first opponent, he has a fairly straightforward draw up until the semifinals. Shelton could potentially face Adam Walton or Adrian Mannarino in the round of 16 and compatriot Tommy Paul in the quarterfinals. If he gets past the quarterfinals, he could face Denis Shapovalov or Grigor Dimitrov in the semifinals.
Shelton can face one of the hard-hitting Americans, Fritz or Learner Tien, in the final. With Fritz’s recent physical struggles during the Australian swing, Shelton has a real chance of winning the ATP 500 event in Dallas. After the Dallas Open, he will play the Mexican Open in Acapulco.
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