Ben Shelton’s serve was virtually untouchable on Tuesday in Basel, and the top-seeded American needed every bit of it to survive a thrilling all-American battle with Aleksandar Kovacevic.
Shelton hammered 44 aces, just three shy of the all-time record for a three-set match, and edged his compatriot 6-7(4), 7-6(3), 7-6(4) in a contest that did not feature a single break of serve.
It was a razor-thin margin of victory for No.4-ranked Shelton, who improved to 41-17 across the 2026 season and kept alive his bid for a fifth title of the year.
The American is the No. 1 seed at an event above ATP 250 level for the first time in his career, and his opening test in Basel, which was his first at tour-level with the talented New York native, proved to be a stern one.
For Kovacevic, the defeat was another bitter pill to swallow. He dropped to 1-6 in deciding-set tiebreaks this season and has now lost six consecutive tour-level main draw matches. Kovacevic has two break points on Shelton’s serve at 5-5 in the final set, but was unable to cash in.
Shelton steamrolled his compatriot in both tiebreaks – he led 3-0 in the first-set breaker and 4-0 in the final-set tiebreak and never looked back.
Chasing Targets, Not the Radar Gun
Already armed with one of the most formidable serves in tennis, Shelton said on court that he has been making subtle adjustments to his delivery in a bid to get even more out of it during this year’s indoor hard-court swing, which will culminate in his second appearance at the ATP Finals in Turin.
Those changes appeared to pay dividends on Tuesday Basel, where the American’s 44 aces brought him within striking distance of the three-set record.
Do you know how many aces you hit, he was asked.
“You just told me, 44, And I’m pretty excited about that,” Shelton said during his on-court interview. “You know, we kind of came into this indoor swing talking about spot serving. We changed my serve, the technique, and to come out here and, in the first match, serve the way that I did, as accurately as I did, and have multiple games where I had four aces, very pleased with that.”
Shelton explained that the changes are less about power and more about precision.
“I think we just simplified it a little bit, trying to make it more of a throwing motion, trying to be a little bit more precise with my toss, and to chase the targets more than the radar gun,” he said.
“For me, I fall into the trap sometimes of looking at the radar gun, and I start over-serving, over-swinging. I thought I did a good job of not looking at it too much today, and the results speak for themselves.”
Shelton, who will face Swiss wild card Jerome Kym in round two, hopes to continue hitting his spots.
“I think this is how you win on indoor courts, fast indoor courts, playing indoor tennis,” he said. “Obviously, try to build up in these two tournaments before Turin, and yeah, happy with the performance.”
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