Cincinnati 2022: Casper Ruud vs Ben Shelton preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds, and pick | Western & Southern Open
Match Details
Fixture: (5) Casper Ruud vs (WC) Ben Shelton.
Date: August 17, 2022.
Tournament: Western & Southern Open 2022.
Round: Second Round (Round of 32).
Venue: Cincinnati, Ohio.
Category: ATP Masters 1000.
Surface: Hard.
Prize money: $6,280,880.
Match timing: Approx. 2 pm local time, 6 pm GMT and 11:30 pm IST.
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK - Amazon Prime Video | India - Sport18.
Casper Ruud vs Ben Shelton preview
After a first-round bye, Casper Ruud will take on home favorite Ben Shelton in the second round of the 2022 Western & Southern Open on Wednesday.
Ruud had a great start to his North American hardcourt swing by making it to the semifinals of last week's Canadian Open. He received an opening-round bye, following which he moved past Alex Molcan in straight sets.
The Norwegian was challenged by Roberto Bautista Agut in the third round, but overcame the Spaniard in three sets. He then easily breezed past Felix Auger-Aliassime in the quarterfinals, dropping just three games. It marked his first last-four appearance in Canada.
Ruud was up against Hubert Hurkacz in the semifinals. He claimed a closely contested opening set, but eventually lost the match in three sets.
After consecutive first-round losses, the Norwegian reached the quarterfinals in Cincinnati last year. He'll be aiming to better that performance this time around.
Ben Shelton made his ATP main draw debut at the Atlanta Open a few weeks ago. He defeated Ramkumar Ramanathan in the first round to score his maiden win at the ATP level. Shelton then gave defending champion John Isner a scare in the second round, but lost in three sets.
He reached his second final at the Challenger level in Chicago last week, but lost to Roman Safiullin in three sets. The American then received a wildcard to compete in Cincinnati and was drawn against Lorenzo Sonego in the first round.
Shelton snatched a hard-fought opening set, but Sonego leveled the match by winning the second set. Both players went toe-to-toe in the deciding set, but the Italian collapsed under pressure towards the end.
Shelton snagged one final break of serve as Sonego served to stay in the match at 6-5 to secure a 7-6 (5), 3-6, 7-5 win.
Casper Ruud vs Ben Shelton head-to-head
The two have not played against each other prior to this, so the head-to-head stands at 0-0 for now.
Casper Ruud vs Ben Shelton odds
All odds are sourced from BetMGM.
Casper Ruud vs Ben Shelton prediction
Shelton is a young talent on the rise and is definitely one to keep an eye on. But against an experienced player like Ruud, the teenager will have to punch way above his weight if he wants to emerge victorious.
Shelton is armed with a pretty good serve and against Sonego, he won a high number of first serve points. He also hit 30 winners compared to 24 unforced errors, indicating that he's not one to make too many easy misses. The American is also quite solid at the net, winning 24/34 approaches while coming forward.
Ruud, meanwhile, has been making some adjustments to his game recently and they've been working quite well. He flattened out his backhand and is striking the ball a bit earlier as well. His forehand remains as consistent as ever and the Norwegian has improved quite a bit on hardcourts over the past year.
Shelton certainly has the tools to bother his opponent, but expect Ruud to come out on top in this encounter.
Pick: Casper Ruud to win in straight sets.
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