What's the plan?

Shelton is pretty much guaranteed to make the ATP Finals; I think that’s his goal, and the two tournaments before are there to get ready and, above all, to build confidence.

I insist on the need to be cautious because Shelton is coming off a loss to Goffin in Shanghai for his return after his US Open injury, and he withdrew from doubles right after for the same injury. No matches since then; in my opinion he wasn’t fully recovered yet, and since it was a M1000 he gave it a go! This is an ATP 500, so no obligations—you have to see to what extent he’s treating it as a comeback tournament, that’s my only concern with him. Otherwise, to be fair, he was monstrous before his injury, with a finally more composed and thoughtful game; no doubt that in fast indoor conditions he can hurt anyone if he’s at 100%. His shoulder injury is annoying because it directly affects his serve, and that’s his biggest weapon—you really have to think carefully before betting on him. On the other side we’ve got Majchrzak coming out of qualies, and I already backed him against Royer; the Pole is playing well at the end of the year. His game isn’t particularly strong indoors in the sense that he’s not a big server/power player, but his flat, low strokes are a pain and he’s good moving forward, which is really interesting! Form is entirely on his side—he’s got good legs and is already used to the conditions. He’s also good statistically against big servers; we can reasonably back him if the price is appealing. This looks like the right spot against a rhythm-lacking Shelton.