Vacherot - The Real Deal?

He keeps proving to us that Shanghai was not a one-time lucky thing...

Despite dropping a set against Hijikata, Valentin was never in any real danger of losing the match. His defense was outstanding; the slightly underpowered Australian had no answers at all. Combine that with some big serving and good hitting from both wings, and we end up with a very impressive match from the man who suddenly rose in the rankings! As for Shelton, we are seeing a big difference in his two Grand Slam matches compared to his performance in Auckland prior - he simply switches to another gear for the bigger tournaments, so we need to be careful not to judge his prior performance too much. It goes without saying that Shelton will be a much harder test for Vacherot than what he had to deal with against Hijikata. Ben has the power to hit through him and a serve that is a lot less attackable. We have also seen that the majority of Ben's losses in Grand Slams lately are against the elite players - Sinner and Alcaraz.

Still, there are quite a few things that could help Vacherot in this match. He has a huge serve himself, and despite improvements, Ben is still not the best returner. Valentin's backhand is also great, which is always going to come in handy against a left-hander! I also find him to be quite good at passing shots, once again useful against someone who likes to come to the net, as Shelton does. We have seen him mentally strong in the big moments, which is important, especially in "big matches" like this. Lastly, it wouldn't surprise me if the hot conditions end up as an advantage for him in this matchup - we know he is very robust physically. Shelton is a player with great fitness as well, but it's worth keeping in mind that he had an injury at the end of last season and that he has yet to be really tested in a huge fight since then...