Ben Shelton was a man on a mission and a man covered in clay — Friday at Roland Garros, where he surged past Italian qualifier Matteo Gigante to reach the fourth round in Paris for the first time.
The 22-year-old delivered a high-quality display, during which he produced a miraculous recovery to win a point from the floor in the second set, to triumph 6-3, 6-3, 6-4. With his two-hour, 18-minute victory, Shelton became the fourth-youngest American man to reach the fourth round at all four majors.
Serving at 6-3, 3-0, 15/0, Shelton was pulled out wide to hit a deep forehand before falling to the floor as he tried to regroup in the middle of the court. Yet he managed to swat his racquet to the next ball while plummeting to the ground face first, then jumped back up to play a whipping backhand at Gigante’s feet to win the point.
“It was very different having five days off between my first and third rounds,” said Shelton, who received a walkover past Hugo Gaston in the second round. “I was thinking about going home to the US for a few days to relax, but I stayed here and I’m really looking forward to being in the second week.
“It’s my first time being in the second week here at the French, the only Slam where I hadn’t been in the second week yet. I couldn’t be more happy with doing that today.”
With Tommy Paul also advancing on Friday, it marks the first time that multiple American men reached the fourth round at the clay-court major since 2001, when Andre Agassi and Michael Russell progressed. Shelton will next face defending champion Carlos Alcaraz or Damir Dzumhur.
Gigante scored the biggest win of his career by defeating former finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas in the second round, but he was unable to produce another memorable upset. In the first Lexus ATP Head2Head clash between the two explosive lefties, Shelton targeted the Italian’s backhand and often lured him in with the use of the drop shots and crafty net play.
Shelton charged to the forecourt on 33 occasions, according to Infosys Stats, throughout the clash. Despite only winning 20 of those points, he unsettled Gigante with his unpredictability, which accounted for the 36 unforced errors produced by the qualifier.
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