Ben Shelton vs Tommy Paul Prediction and Odds: Australian Open

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This is likely the most unexpected of the quarterfinal matchups, with 2 young unseeded Americans battling it for the right to play in their first ever Grand Slam semi-final. The world number 35 Paul has much more experienced than the world number 89 Shelton. But the latter has the boldness of youth helping him and very exciting clash is to be expected. Below is our preview of the match, as well as some betting predictions.

These odds from Ladbrokes were correct at the time of writing

Ben Shelton vs Tommy Paul – Match Predictions

Paul enters this match as the favourite and he knows that only if he is decisive early and forces his will on the brave youngster Shelton he will be able to progress. Now a closer look at our tennis predictions for this game:

​​Shelton to Win More Than 1 Set: No

College grad Shelton is enjoying a fairytale run in Melbourne so far. This is the American’s first tournament outside his home country and only his second ever Grand Slam, but he has defied all odds to make it that far.

In round 4 he spent huge amount of energy to overcome another countryman Wolf in 5 sets, so we don’t think he can go the distance again. He’s young and fit, but still lacks the stamina at age 20.

At the same time Paul seems to be playing better and better with each passing round and he dropped just 1 set in his last 2 matches. That’s why we believe he will be able to win in 3 or 4 sets.

​​Paul to win 1st Service Game, 1 Set and Match

As mentioned above Paul knows how dangerous Shelton can be if given belief, so our expectation is that the much more experienced player will try to impose his will early. Paul has been rock-solid on his own serve in the last 2 rounds and back him to win his first service game of the match.

If he wants to avoid long contest he is likely to look for a quick start and to seek win in set 1 too. This should put him in pole position to win the match. To add to that Shelton lost the first set in 2 of the 4 rounds so far.

Ben Shelton vs Tommy Paul Preview

After making our Shelton vs Paul predictions it’s time to take a closer look at the two players individually as they enter Australian Open 2023:

​Ben Shelton

College graduate Shelton is experiencing tennis overseas for the first time in Melbourne and he seems to be thriving. Tall and with explosive serve (126mph) he is built to play on the fast hard courts of Australia. Still he had luck helping him in 2 of his 4 wins so far. Shelton had to save match-points both in rounds 1 and 4 before progressing in 5 sets.

Shelton has excited the fans and made it to a stage of the tournament nobody expected him to. He’s starting to feel mentally tired though, his own admission after the last round, and the drama and effort required for all of his 4 wins so far are beginning to weigh on him.

​Tommy Paul

Paul’s run to the quarterfinals already guarantees him place in the world top 25 after this tournament, so his career is only moving in the right direction in the last 12 months. In 2022 he beat two different top 3 players, reached Wimbledon’s round 4 (his best Grand Slam run prior the 2023 Australian Open) and also made it to 2 Masters quarterfinals.

Paul transported his form into 2023 and he has been playing some excellent tennis in the first 4 rounds. He beat 2 seeded Spaniards in Melbourne already and won his other 2 matches against lower ranked players without dropping a set.

​​Ben Shelton vs Tommy Paul Head to Head

The two have never met before, so they don’t know each other that well.

​Ben Shelton vs Tommy Paul Match Detail

• When will the match start? The match is scheduled to start at 03:30 am GMT on Wednesday, January 25th.
• On which court will the match be played? The match will be played on Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne.
• Where to watch AO 2023 in UK? You can watch Australian Open on Eurosport broadcast and online, or stream it on Discovery+.

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