Shelton wins hilarious match point to beat Bublik in Montreal

Ben Shelton defeated doubles partner Alexander Bublik 7-6(4), 6-2 in a first-round match that ended in hilarious fashion Wednesday at the Omnium Banque National présenté par Rogers.

The 11th-seeded American hit a backhand drop shot while holding three match points at 5-2 in the second set. Bublik darted towards the net and in a last-second effort, threw his racquet at the ball, making perfect contact. Though the shot did not count due to the racquet leaving Bublik's hand, the ball landed on Shelton's side, leaving the 21-year-old stunned. The pair of Top 25 players in the PIF ATP Rankings shared a laugh during a warm embrace at net.

Shelton, who will team the Kazakhstani later Wednesday in a second-round doubles showdown against Jack Draper and Jannik Sinner, overcame early forehand errors to record his first win in three Lexus ATP Head2Head meetings with Bublik. The two-time tour-level titlist raised his level when Bublik served for the opening set at 5-4 and rarely looked back to earn his career-best 27th match win of the season.

“I think the consistency in my tennis is improving every week,” Shelton said of his 8-0 first-round season record at ATP Masters 1000 level and higher. “I’m feeling more and more comfortable. I’m starting to feel more comfortable on the court against guys that I’ve had a lot of trouble with before. I think that my game is evolving every day. Surely not the player that I want to be in the future, but I think I’m moving the right way with a lot of things and finding identity on court.”

Up next for Shelton will be Australian Alexei Popyrin. The Australian downed Czech Tomas Machac 6-3, 6-4.

Shelton’s countrymen ninth seed Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul, a semi-finalist last year at the Canadian ATP Masters 1000 event, and Brandon Nakashima also advanced. The 26-year-old Fritz defeated Mariano Navone 6-4, 6-1.

“It was a solid match. I feel like the level, probably from both of us, went up a bit in the second set. We started playing longer points,” said Fritz, who struck 19 winners to the Argentine’s three. “The conditions are tough. The balls feel so hard to control, so kind of a lot of errors coming out from both sides. I started getting into the movement — moving side to side — just feeling a bit more normal on the court in the second set.”

Fritz will next play Washington champion and countryman Sebastian Korda, who led Vasek Pospisil 2-1 when the Canadian retired due to a back injury.

Paul, 27, scored a 6-4, 7-6(2) victory against Luciano Darderi. Into the second round, the 10th seed will face Nakashima, who ousted home favourite Denis Shapovalov 6-4, 7-5.

Through the first round ?@OBNmontreal | @TommyPaul1 | #OBN24 pic.twitter.com/FRVMItE4hD

Flavio Cobolli spoiled Felix Auger-Aliassime’s return to his home city, defeating the 14th seed 6-3, 6-2 on the eve of the Canadian's 24th birthday. Cobolli, 22, arrived in Montreal at a career-high World No. 33 in the PIF ATP Rankings following last week’s run to the Washington final.

Thanasi Kokkinakis overcame a nervy ending to beat last year’s quarter-finalist Gael Monfils 6-3, 6-3. The Aussie dropped serve when serving for the match at 5-1, but kept his cool on his second attempt. Kokkinakis will face fourth seed Hubert Hurkacz on Thursday.

Ugo Humbert, seeded 12th, raced past fellow Frenchman Arthur Fils 6-2, 6-2 to improve to 10-2 against his countrymen since the start of 2023. The 26-year-old has defeated #NextGenATP Fils three times in that same amount of time.

Croatian Borna Coric earned a 6-4, 6-4 win against Pedro Martinez, setting a second-round encounter against World No. 1 Jannik Sinner. It will mark the qualifier's second meeting with the Italian. Sinner beat Coric in three sets at the 2022 Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters.

The in-form Jordan Thompson, who this week cracked the Top 30 for the first time, defeated Jack Draper 7-5, 6-2. Matteo Arnaldi rallied past Mackenzie McDonald 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina beat Roman Safiullin 6-2, 7-5.

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