AFTER two losses on clay to his doubles partner over the last 18 months, American Ben Shelton got one back on Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik in the first round of the ATP Masters 1000 in Montreal overnight. Two characters on the ATP Tour, it was only fitting that the 7-6 6-2 victory ended with a hilarious moment on match point.

Chasing a drop shot off Shelton’s racquet, Bublik raced to the net, but knowing he could not make the shot, tossed his own racquet towards the ball. Somehow it got the perfect connection and dropped over the net. While any time a tennis racquet leaves a player’s hand in shot deemed a point to the opposition, both players share a laugh at the net over the point.

The match was a tight one to begin with, as Shelton had to fight through a first set tiebreaker to win it 7-4 and get the upper hand. That proved to be crucial as he built in confidence throughout the second set, winning 80 and 67 per cent of his first and second serve points, conceding just five points on serve. In that final game, Shelton served out the match to love.

Bublik did not play badly, winning 62 per cent of his first serve points off a 67 per cent clip, but five double faults, and winning just four of 13 points off his second serve (31 per cent) meant Shelton had the upper hand. The 21-year-old had to fight as well, coming back from the only time he was broken in the first set to break Bublik as the Kazakh was serving for the set.

“I think the consistency in my tennis is improving every week,” Shelton said post-match. “I’m feeling more and more comfortable. I’m starting to feel more comfortable on the court against guys that I’ve had a lot of trouble with before. I think that my game is evolving every day. Surely not the player that I want to be in the future, but I think I’m moving the right way with a lot of things and finding identity on court.”

Shelton will take on Australian Alexei Popyrin in the second round after Popyrin surprised Czech Olympic mixed doubles gold medallist Tomas Machac in straight sets, 6-3 6-4. Funnily enough, Shelton and Bublik then teamed up later in the day in doubles, but bowed out 7-6 6-1 to Jannik Sinner and Jack Draper.

AROUND THE COURTS

All eyes were on a couple of United States-Canada battles on day two, with the results both going the way of the former, but in very different circumstances. United States qualifier Brandon Nakashima won 6-4 7-5 in an hour and 37 minutes against Canadian former Top 20 player Denis Shapovalov who had a wildcard in his home country, while Sebastian Korda spent just 19 minutes on court before Vasek Pospisil retired after three games. Korda is coming off a win at the DC Open and will no doubt appreciate the shortened match.

It was a good day for the Australians, with Jordan Thompson – fresh off reaching a career-high 30th in the world – knocking off fellow Top 30 player Jack Draper in convincing style, 7-5 6-2. Incredibly, qualifiers Thanasi Kokkinakis and Rinky Hijikata, and lucky loser James Duckworth all made it through making it five from five on the day.

The Americans also had plenty of winners with Top 20 players Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul joining the other trio in the second round, while it was unlucky for the French, with two all-French matches taking place. In those contests, Ugo Humbert accounted for Arthur Fils, while qualifier Arthur Rinderknech upset Adrian Mannarino.

Other winner on day two were Italian duo Flavio Cobolli and Matteo Arnaldi, with the former taking down local hope Felix Auger-Aliassime – as well as Croatian former Top 20 Borna Coric and Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.