Ben Shelton defeated top seed Andrey Rublev in the quarterfinals of the Swiss Indoors on Friday, marking their first match against each other. Shelton won with scores of 7-5, 6-7 (3), 6-4, successfully saving all six break points he faced and converting the two break points he created.
This victory marked Shelton’s fifth semifinal appearance out of nine quarterfinals this year. “I struggled a lot this year in quarterfinals and I’ve lost a lot of them against top 10 players,” Shelton said.
“It’s been a tough hump to overcome. To get to the second-to-last week of the year and finally do it is huge for me. Especially with the way I was able to overcome everything Rublev threw at me.”
In the semifinals, Shelton will play against his good friend Arthur Fils from France, whom he lost to last month in Tokyo. “There is no one I would rather match up against on a Saturday here in Basel,” Shelton said. “I’m looking for some revenge.”
Fils advanced by beating third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas with scores of 7-6 (5), 6-3, making him 2-0 against Tsitsipas. “I served pretty well,” Fils noted, winning 88% of his first serve points and not dropping a set so far.
Fourth-seeded Holger Rune also advanced without losing a set, defeating David Goffin from Belgium with scores of 6-2, 6-4. Rune’s semifinal opponent will be Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard from France, who won his match against Denis Shapovalov with a score of 6-7 (7), 6-3, 7-6 (3). Mpetshi Perricard served 27 aces and hit 46 winners, although he only broke Shapovalov’s serve once.
