Shelton unleashes ace attack in Basel win

Top seed Ben Shelton fired a personal-best 44 aces in a best-of-three-set match on Tuesday to outlast US compatriot Aleksandar Kovacevic 6-7 (4), 7-6 (3), 7-6-(4)  to escape with a win in his opening match at the Swiss Indoors.

Victory in the Basel hometown of Roger Federer lasted for more than two hours and put Shelton up among the elite for aces; the best in the books is 47 from Milos Raonic, with Ivo Karlovic and Mark Philippoussis also figuring in the calculations

Shelton’s previous best was 26 aces.

Shelton and his compatriot duelled through the tight contest, with the seed finally gaining an edge through a 5-1 tiebreak lead in the third set.

Kovacevic, a lucky loser from qualifying rounds, put up a huge fight and saved two match points before going down to defeat.

Shelton said he is working to stop concentrating on serve speed and concentrating on his service form, which he credited with helping him through.

“I’m pretty excited about aces.” the winner said. ” I had games with multiple aces, I’m very pleased 

“That is how you win on these fast indoor courts. I’m happy with the performance.”

The 2024 finalist now owns 16 match wins at the ATP 500 level this season against just three defeats.