Stuttgart 2024: Ben Shelton vs James Duckworth preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds and pick | Boss Open
Match Details
Fixture: (2) Ben Shelton vs (Q) James Duckworth
Date: June 13, 2024
Tournament: Boss Open
Round: Second Round (Round of 16)
Venue: Tennis Club Weissenhof, Stuttgart, Germany
Category: ATP 250
Surface: Grass
Prize Money: €734,915
Live Telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | Canada - TSN+ | UK - Sky Sports
Ben Shelton vs James Duckworth preview
Following a first-round bye, second seed Ben Shelton will lock horns with qualifier James Duckworth in the second round of the 2024 Boss Open on Thursday (June 13).
Shelton reached the semifinals of the ASB Classic at the start of the season but bowed out of the Australian Open in the third round, where he was a quarterfinalist last year. He made the last four of the Dallas Open after that, and the quarterfinals of the Mexican Open.
Shelton was eliminated in the fourth round of the Indian Wells Masters, and a round earlier in Miami. He began the clay swing with a bang as he captured his first title on the surface in Houston. However, he didn't make much of an impact after that, and concluded his time on the red dirt with a third-round exit from the French Open.
Duckworth, meanwhile, came through the qualifying rounds to book his place in the main draw of the Boss Open. He was up against Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the first round. The Australian edged his opponent to snag the only break of the first set, which tilted the set in his favor.
The two were evenly matched for most of the second set as neither ceded any ground on serve. Duckworth raised his level in the tie-break to register a 6-4, 7-6 (2) win.
Ben Shelton vs James Duckworth head-to-head
This will be the first career meeting between them, so the head-to-head stands at 0-0 for now.
Ben Shelton vs James Duckworth prediction
(Odds are sourced from BetMGM)
Ben Shelton vs James Duckworth prediction
Duckworth notched his first win at the ATP level in two months by beating Herbert in his opener. He hit 10 aces and didn't lose his serve even once, and won an impressive 89 percent of his first serve points.
Shelton improved his results by a fair margin on clay this year, and now will be keen to do the same on grass. He won a couple of matches on the surface last season, and neither of those were easy wins.
The American's huge serve should fetch him some success on grass but that wasn't the case last year as he got outplayed in other aspects. However, Duckworth's 3-21 career record against top-20 opposition doesn't bode too well for his chances in this match-up.
Furthermore, Duckworth has lost all three of his matches on grass against top-20 players. His career record on grass isn't great either, going 9-15 so far. Even though Shelton is a novice on grass, this should be a relatively easy win for him given his opponent's track record and form.
Pick: Ben Shelton to win in straight sets.