AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND — World No. 8 Ben Shelton was knocked out by rain within the quarterfinals of the two-day ATP 250 match held in Auckland, New Zealand on Friday.
Prime-seeded Shelton misplaced to unseeded and Thirty ninth-ranked Sebastian Baez of Argentina 7-5, 6-3.
On Thursday evening, Shelton led 1-0 within the second set, however the match was halted as a result of heavy rain. When play resumed on Friday, Báez served to tie the match and break the American for a 2-1 lead.
Third seed Jakub Mencik will face Fabian Marosan and Baez will face American Marcos Giron within the Oakland semi-finals in a while Friday.
The 23-year-old Shelton, the top-ranked American participant on tour forward of No. 9 Taylor Fritz, heads to the Australian Open the place he’ll face Hugo Humbert of France within the first spherical.
At a information convention in Oakland, Shelton stated he believes there are younger gamers who can fill the hole between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, who’ve received the previous eight Grand Slam singles titles.
He desires to be one in every of them.
“They’ve undoubtedly been forward of the curve the previous few years,” Shelton stated. “However in my thoughts, there’s undoubtedly a man who can are available there and problem, a younger man who’s been enjoying nice yearly.”
Alcaraz is 22 years outdated and Sinner is 24 years outdated.
“It is not regular for Alcaraz and Sinner to be doing what they’re doing at such younger ages, however there are numerous younger gamers who have not developed sufficient and we’ve not seen their greatest tennis but,” Shelton stated.
Shelton stated the 2025 season was “a terrific stepping stone for me…There’s numerous issues I may have improved on in 2025 and 2024.”
“And for me, it is not all concerning the outcomes, however relatively what I discover and perceive in my recreation,” Shelton added. “So there’s lots we will construct off of this 12 months.”
