Acapulco, Feb 25 After edging past Flavio Cobolli in the first round of the Mexican Open, Ben Shelton admitted he couldn’t afford to let history repeat itself. Having lost to Cobolli twice before the match, the American was determined to turn the tide, sealing a win he "wanted really bad."
The lefty battled past Cobolli 7-6(4), 7-6(4) to reach the second round of the Mexican Open on Tuesday (IST). Awaiting Shelton in the second round will be David Goffin, who breezed past Rinky Hijikata 6-2, 6-3.
“That was one I wanted really bad. For me, I won the first set in the first two matches and ended up going down a break in the second, losing the second, and ultimately losing in three sets. So for me, I wanted to fight back there, complete it in two, and get off the court," Sheldon said in an on-court interview.
“It’s never easy going into a match being 0-2 against somebody. Like I said in Australia, you go 0-3 and they become your daddy, so I was fighting again for that not to happen and happy with the performance," he added.
Earlier in Acapulco, Casper Ruud eased into the second round on the Mexican Pacific Coast with a 6-4, 6-3 victory against Arthur Rinderknech. The Norwegian, fresh off a runner-up finish in Dallas, extended his lead against the Frenchman to 3-0. Ruud, a finalist at both Mexican ATP Tour events last year, will face either Aleksandar Vukic or wild card Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez in the next round.
Tommy Paul and Tomas Machac also made confident starts to their campaigns. Third seed Paul dismantled Gabriel Diallo 6-2, 6-2 and will now face countryman Marcos Giron, who overcame Adam Walton 7-6(4), 6-2. Paul, a finalist in Acapulco in 2023, is now 9-6 at the tournament.
Meanwhile, eighth seed Machac triumphed in a battle of Czech stars, edging out Jakub Mensik 6-4, 2-6, 6-3. Machac, making his tournament debut, will next take on Daniel Altmaier, who fought past Miomir Kecmanovic 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.
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