ATP Masters in Shanghai, Round of 16, Tuesday, 10.10.2023
The high class tennis season 2023 is not over yet! We don’t have a Grand Slam coming up, but the best in the world are currently at the Masters in Shanghai. Duels that couldn’t be more exciting are already waiting for us in the round of 16.
For example, on Tuesday morning, when the world number four will have a hot duel with the number 20. Nevertheless, the Bet365 odds are clear, and so I will now reveal in my Sinner Shelton tip why I expect a 2:0 win for the South Tyrolean!
Although Jannik Sinner is only 22 years old, you have the feeling that he has been among the world’s best for a decade. In purely mathematical terms, of course, that doesn’t quite add up, but the Italian’s consistency is now increasing more and more.
We still remember his nervous times when he lost out in duels with opponents on a par with him. Now he has worked his way up to a great fourth place in the rankings, and that is by no means the end of the story.
At the Masters in Beijing, he first beat Daniel Evans, Yoshihito Nishioka and Grigor Dimitrov, before the absolute cracker was waiting for him. And Sinner? He played big, as if he had never gone through a weak phase before!
7-6, 6-1, against Carlos Alcaraz and in the final 7-6, 7-6 against Daniil Medvedev, Sinner deserved the title! And since he feels so comfortable with winning at the moment, he just keeps going in Shanghai.
For the first time, he took part in this Masters, starting the tournament with a 7-6, 6-2 against Marcos Giron. A little later, he had to fight hard against Sebastian Baez, but still kept the upper hand at 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.
On Tuesday, he will face a strong man he has never played before. Ben Shelton is also climbing steadily in the world rankings and is currently among the top 20 players.
The left-hander is active in the role of the underdog at our bookmakers, the odds come to an average of 3.80 to 1.25. His chances of winning should therefore be rather low, but you should never underestimate the US American.
At the latest, his semi-final at the US Open (where Shelton beat opponents such as Tommy Paul and Frances Tiafoe), where he lost to Novak Djokovic in three straight sets, showed what he is capable of.
In Shanghai, the participation is an absolute premiere for him, too, he got off to a 6-4, 6-4 start against Jaume Munar. A little later, he had to fight hard against Roman Safiullin, who had previously eliminated Alexander Zverev.
Shelton eventually progressed in three sets, finishing 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. He conceded only one break in both matches overall, but had he converted his own more efficiently, he would probably have finished earlier.
Shelton still lacks exactly the consistency that Sinner has acquired over the past year and a half. He is one year younger than the South Tyrolean, so he can definitely be satisfied with the current rankings and statistics.
My Sinner Shelton Tip
If everything goes as usual, Jannik Sinner should actually have no problem advancing to the quarter-finals of the Shanghai Masters. The newly crowned Beijing champion is now ranked No. 4 in the world, he has never been in a better position.
Ben Shelton may be well on his way to establishing himself in the top 20, but in my eyes he still lacks a good bit before he can compete with the level of a Jannik Sinner.
We also took a closer look at the results from Shanghai and found out that Sinner performs better here as well. For this reason, I recommend the following tip:
Sinner wins outright against Shelton!
