​Ben Shelton qualified for his first career ATP finals, the American managed a spectacular comeback against Marcos Giron on Saturday in Tokyo (tournament category 500).

Ben SheltonPhoto: Ng Han Guan/AP/Profimedia

Ben Shelton in Tokyo ATP Finals – leading by a set and 5-2

Giron (79 ATP) won the first set 7-6(2) and led 5-2 in the second set, but Shelton (19 ATP) recovered two breaks to win the tiebreak match: 7-6(5) .

Ben made the only break in the decisive set at 3-3, and the opponent could not stop him: 6-4. The game lasted two hours and 51 minutes.

Know:

  • In the grand final, 21-year-old Ben Shelton will meet the winner of the match between Japan’s Shintaro Mochizuki (215 ATP) and Russia’s Aslan Karatsev (50 ATP).
  • Thanks to his performance in Japan, Ben is ranked 17th in the ATP Live Rankings (a career high). If he wins the trophy, he will tie with Francis Tiafoe (14th with 2,355 points).

The Japan Open will be held from October 16 to 22 on hard, is in the ATP 500 category and has a total prize pool of $2,013,940. The current champion is Taylor Fritz, the American was also the main favorite in 2023.