Ben Shelton beat Mackenzie McDonald 6-3 6-4 in 75 minutes without facing a break point at Mubaldala DC Citi DC Open in Washington.
Shelton entered the Washington tournament at a career high of number 8. The US player was playing his first match since his quarter final defeat against Jannik Sinner at Wimbledon.
Shelton fired nine aces and dropped seven points in seven service games. He faced three break points and dropped his serve once in each set.
Shelton fired 25 service winners and hit 23 winners to 15 unforced errors.
Shelton earned his first break in the fourth game to open up a 3-1 lead. He consolidated the break with a hold at love in the fifth game and served for the first set at 5-3.
Shelton hit a serve and volley on set point to close out the first set 6-3 in 33 minutes.
Shelton held five service game in the second set. McDonald saved a break point in the third game. Shelton held at love in the sixth game to draw level to 3-3. Shelton broke serve in the seventh game to take a 4-3 lead and held at love in the eighth game and served for the match at 5-4. He hit a powerful serve on a match point to seal the win.
Shelton set up a match against Gabriel Diallo, who beat Fabian Maroszan 6-3 6-4.
“It’s really important, I think just where I want my match count to be going into the US Open to start off strong here and be playing again on Thursday and get myself a chance to have a second match”, said Shelton.
