Shelton steers into Miami third round, Marozsan upsets Rune

Will Ben Shelton be the player home fans cheer on to a deep run at this year’s Miami Open presented by Itau?

Saturday proved a tough day for the ATP Tour’s top Americans at the ATP Masters 1000 event. Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul and Frances Tiafoe all exited in the second round, but Shelton on Sunday ensured he would not follow the same path as his countrymen. He delivered a rock-solid display to overcome Martin Landaluce 6-3, 6-4 at Hard Rock Stadium.

The 21-year-old lefty Shelton, the No. 17 in the PIF ATP Rankings, delivered plenty of big serving and did not face a break point en route to a 76-minute win against #NextGenATP Spaniard Landaluce. It was the 16th seed’s first main-draw win in Miami at the second attempt.

“I’m really happy to be here,” said Shelton. “There was unbelievable crowd support out here for me today. It’s just really cool to be here. It has a special atmosphere here in Miami, especially at night, like when Chris Eubanks played here last night. Electric atmosphere, that’s what I live for on the tennis court, so just happy to be here and happy to be able to play another match here.”

The powerful nature of Shelton’s performance was encapsulated by the way he clinched each set on Grandstand. Both times he fired a rocket serve down the middle that proved too hot for Landaluce to handle. The American finished having won 83 per cent (29/35) of points behind his first delivery, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

WHAT A ROCKET🚀@BenShelton with a 143 mph serve to claim the opener against Landaluce 6-3!@MiamiOpen | #MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/gdsOWCxDSo

— ATP Tour (@atptour) March 24, 2024

“I thought I was pretty complete today,” said Shelton. “I thought I did a great job backing up my serve and usually when I have a lot of confidence and holding easily, the rest of my game continues to flow, and my confidence just grows. I think that helps me a lot and puts a lot of pressure on the other guy.”

Next up for the American in his home state of Florida will be 23rd seed Lorenzo Musetti, who defeated Roman Safiullin 7-5, 6-1. Shelton is now 11-6 for the 2024 season, a tally that includes winning six of his seven opening-round matches at tour-level events.

Despite his defeat, Landaluce produced plenty of quality moments against Shelton to back up his maiden tour-level win against Jaume Munar in the first round. The 18-year-old has risen 45 spots to No. 315 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings as a result of his Miami showing.

In other action, Fabian Marozsan earned his third Top 10 win when he upset World No. 7 Holger Rune 6-1, 6-1. The Hungarian struck 23 winners and saved all three break points he faced, according to Infosys ATP Stats, to advance after just 59 minutes.

Last season, Marozsan shocked then-World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz en route to the fourth round in Rome and Casper Ruud in Shanghai, where he reached the quarter-finals at an ATP Masters 1000 event for the first time.

"It is a great feeling to play at the highest level," Marozsan said. "I try to play my best tennis and today against a Top 10 player and I am enjoying my time here. I try to play my best tennis."

Competing in his fourth tournament at this level, Marozsan will aim to continue his perfect record of advancing to at least the last 16 when he meets Australian Alexei Popyrin in the third round. Popyrin moved past Czech Jiri Lehecka 6-4, 6-4.

Ale de Minaur continued his impressive 2024 with a 6-3, 6-2 win against Soonwoo Kwon. The Australian has now earned a Tour-leading 18 wins in 2024, having captured the ATP 500 crown in Acapulco earlier this month.

The 25-year-old, currently No. 10 in the PIF ATP Rankings, will play big-serving German Jan-Lennard Struff in the third round.