Ben Shelton’s Sunshine Double disappointed, so he’s hoping to bounce back from the underdog.
Clay may not be able to get his game up to speed, but Shelton knows success in slow motion. In fact, he is a former US Men’s Clay Court Championship champion. The ninth-ranked American lifted the trophy in his first appearance two years ago, defeating Brandon Nakashima, Tomas Martin Etcheverry, and Frances Tiafoe along the way.
Shelton makes his return as the top seed and will begin his campaign against Zhizhen Zhang on Wednesday afternoon. They split their previous two encounters; Shelton won a fifth-set tiebreaker at the 2023 Australian Open before Zhang got the job done 6-2, 6-4 on the red clay of Rome in 2024.
As those results suggest, clay is where Zhang would choose to face Shelton. Unfortunately, the Chinese veteran has been plagued by injuries and will enter this week at number 263 in the rankings. He did well to beat Jack Pinington Jones 6-1, 6-3 on Monday, but Shelton is clearly a very different customer.
The conditions in Houston are not bad on the clay court, and Shelton has to rely even more on the fact that he is a former champion. The 23-year-old is undefeated in Houston – and probably won’t be on Wednesday either.
Pick: Shelton of 2
