The survivor

Shelton came back from far behind against Majchzrak and can thank the Pole for the volley he botched on match point!

It wasn’t peak Shelton for his return, and even he admitted he didn’t have high expectations for this tournament—he mainly wants to get his rhythm back, and this one is more of a tune-up for the end of the year. He wasn’t awful, and he was up against a very good player, but he came very close to losing, and I personally think Majchzrak is still too soft in the big moments; he’s not a killer. Shelton gets away with it and now faces Munar in the second round, not at all an opponent he likes playing, since the Spaniard has already beaten him twice this season, including one indoors. What stands out from their matches is that Munar’s defensive quality really bothers Shelton—the American ends up forcing his game and his shots, which suits Munar just fine. The Spaniard has also learned to be more offensive; he caught Shelton off guard with smart forward play. Munar is still capable of making some big runs at the end of the year; he picks his tournaments and goes all in. I can’t say his R1 was representative, but he did the job cleanly and will now face a Shelton who’s not yet at 100%. The idea is clear to me: if the odds allow it, we’re backing Munar.