The 21-year-old American came back from the brink of defeat to reach the first ATP final of his career on Saturday, winning an all-American semifinal thriller against Marcos Giron at the ATP 500 event in Tokyo, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (5), 6-4.
The world number 19 will face either local qualifier Shintaro Mochizuki or Russia’s Aslan Karatsev in the final.
Ben Shelton battles into first ATP final after beating Giron at Tokyo Open
Shelton: ‘I hope that I can bring some of my best tennis’
“It’s a huge achievement for me and my team, especially with the way the match panned out today. It was definitely one of the toughest matches I’ve played in my life. Marcos (Giron) was whacking me from the baseline in almost every rally and I had to completely change my game to even have a. chance to compete against him. So to be able to get through that match and not only figure some things out, but geta. win and be going into my first ATP final, the win couldn’t be sweeter.
“I’m really looking forward to it. Two guys who are really good on this slick, fast surface and have had unbelievable wins this week playing great tennis, but I hope that I can bring some of my best tennis tomorrow too and I’m looking forward to whoever I’m playing.