Ben Shelton Bested By Felix Auger-Aliassime At Nitto ATP Finals
In a match that had more twists and turns than a telenovela, Ben Shelton saw his Nitto ATP Finals dreams go up in smoke. Facing off against Felix Auger-Aliassime, Shelton experienced the dizzying highs and crushing lows that only professional tennis can deliver. It was a classic “what could have been” night for the young American, a gut-punch loss that will likely sting for a while.
The final score read 4-6, 7-6(7), 7-5 in favor of the Canadian, but that doesn’t even begin to tell the whole story. This was a two-hour, 25-minute slugfest where momentum swung back and forth like a pendulum. For a while, it looked like Shelton was going to run away with it. He bagged the first set 6-4, surprisingly without a single ace, relying instead on relentless pressure and pure grit. It was Shelton at his best.
The Agony Of a Tie-Break
Then came the second-set tie-break, the kind of high-stakes drama you can’t script. This is where the match, and arguably Shelton’s tournament hopes, took a turn. At a crucial moment, Shelton took a tumble, landing awkwardly on his left knee. It was a gasp-inducing moment. Though he got up, the damage was done.
Visibly rattled, he threw in a costly double fault on set point, gift-wrapping the set for Auger-Aliassime. You could almost feel the air go out of the stadium. It was the kind of unforced error that haunts a player’s dreams, a brutal swing from the cusp of victory to the brink of a deciding set.
From that point on, the narrative flipped. Auger-Aliassime, who’s made a living winning deciders this season, found another gear. His serve, which was already good, became practically untouchable. In the final set, he landed an absurd 91% of his first serves and won nearly every one of those points. It was a serving masterclass, leaving Shelton with very little to work with.
The Final Collapse
As the third set wore on, you could see the frustration mounting for Shelton. His greatest weapon, the forehand, started to betray him, flying long in the final, decisive game. It was a painful end to a match that had promised so much. For a player who thrives on confidence and swagger, watching his best shot abandon him at the worst possible moment was pure agony.
In the end, Auger-Aliassime stood tall, booking his 20th deciding-set win of the season and improving his head-to-head record against Shelton to 2-0. For Shelton, it’s a bitter pill to swallow. He came to Turin with high hopes, but a combination of bad luck and a few critical errors sent him packing.
It is a harsh lesson, but one that will undoubtedly fuel the fire for this incredibly talented American star. He showed flashes of brilliance, but in the cutthroat world of the ATP Finals, flashes just aren’t enough.
