By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Wednesday January 10, 2024
Ben Shelton hammered past Fabian Marozsan in impressive fashion to reach the quarterfinals at Auckland.
Photo Source: Getty
Ben Shelton’s first match of 2024 ended in disappointment, but the American put the bitter taste behind him and showed his best form in his second, dispatching Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan 6-3, 6-4 in 71 minutes on Wednesday in New Zealand to reach the last eight at the ASB Classic.
Shelton, who lost his first-round match in Brisbane to Russia's Roman Safiullin, fired 10 aces and took the play to Marozsan from start to finish to begin his first ever tournament as a No.1 seed in style.
The 21-year-old World No.15, who reached the quarterfinals at last year's Australian Open, will face Spain’s Roberto Carballes Baena in quarterfinal action on Thursday in Auckland.
“It was definitely a tough match playing against Fabian,” said Shelton on court after notching his 30th career win . “I had a tough one against him last year at a Challenger and he beat [Carlos Alcaraz] on arguably his favourite surface last year. So really cool to have a matchup against him, he’s a great player and I know he will have a long future on this Tour. A fun match, but happy to get through it.”
Second-seeded and two-time Auckland finalist Cameron Norrie (d. Luca Van Assche) and sixth-seeded Arthur Fils (d. Nuno Borges) are the other seeded players to reach the quarterfinals at Auckland.
No.4-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime was the biggest upset victim on Wednesday at the ASB Classic. The Canadian was bounced by Germany’s Daniel Altmaier, 7-6(9), 7-5.