Australian Open 2023: Ben Shelton vs Alexei Popyrin preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds and pick
Match Details
Fixture: Ben Shelton vs (WC) Alexei Popyrin.
Date: 21 January 2023.
Tournament: Australian Open 2023.
Round: Third round (Round of 32).
Venue: Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia.
Category: Grand Slam.
Surface: Hard.
Prize Money: A$76,500,000.
Live telecast: USA - ESPN | UK - Eurosport | India - Sony Six, Sony Ten & Sony Liv.
Ben Shelton vs Alexei Popyrin preview
Ben Shelton will lock horns with home favorite Alexei Popyrin in the third round of the 2023 Australian Open on Saturday.
Shelton made a winning debut in Melbourne, defeating Zhang Zhizhen in five sets. His second-round opponent was qualifier Nicolas Jarry. The two traded service breaks to start the match, but remained solid on serve thereafter. The young American came out on top in the ensuing tie-break to claim the first set.
Neither player managed to secure a break of serve in the second set, with Shelton once again gaining the upper hand in the tie-break to win the set. The third set also appeared to be headed for a tie-break. However, with Zhang serving to stay in the match at 6-5, the American broke his opponent's serve to win the contest 7-6 (3), 7-6 (3), 7-5.
Popyrin needed five sets to get past Tseng Chun-hsin in his opener. He took on World No. 9 Taylor Fritz in the second round. The duo split the first couple of sets as each clinched it by performing well in the tie-breaks.
Popyrin snagged an early break to go 3-1 up in the third set and held on to the lead to bag another set. Fritz was the better player in the fourth set, but stumbled while closing out the set at 5-4 as the Australian managed to get back on serve.
It was time for yet another tie-break, with Fritz saving a match point to take the set and force a decider. Popyrin bounced back strongly in the final set as he took charge of the proceedings. He raced to a 4-1 lead and then broke the American's serve in the final game of the match to win 6-7 (4), 7-6 (2), 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-2.
Ben Shelton vs Alexei Popyrin head-to-head
This will be the first meeting between them, so the head-to-head stands at 0-0 for now.
Ben Shelton vs Alexei Popyrin odds
(Odds are sourced from BetMGM)
Ben Shelton vs Alexei Popyrin prediction
Popyrin survived yet another five-set thriller, holding his nerve to score one of the most special wins of his career. He blasted 19 aces, while striking a whopping 74 winners while committing 44 unforced errors. While the 23-year old was imposing from the baseline, he also won quite a few points by coming forward to finish off points.
Despite playing in his maiden Australian Open, Shelton has displayed the maturity of a veteran. After a tough first-round victory, he won yet another closely contested match in the second round. His serve helped him out quite a bit, as he won 82% of his first serve points.
Shelton and Popyrin are gunning to reach the fourth round of a Major for the first time. Both have pretty reliable serves and at their best are quite consistent with their groundstrokes. The Australian has already clocked more than eight hours on the court, so there's a slight concern regarding how his body will hold up.
So far both have fought tooth and nail to get to this point and that's likely to happen in the next round as well. As a veteran in this match-up, Popyrin holds the advantage of being in this position before and the experience could propel him into the next round.
Pick: Alexei Popyrin to win in four sets.