Following another semifinal appearance at the DC Open, Ben Shelton is now officially the No. 7 player on the ATP rankings, marking a new high point in his young career for the third week in a row.
Shelton locked up the position by the middle of last week during the Mubadala Citi DC Open. Playing into the semifinal gives him a 185-point lead on Alex de Minaur, who won the Washington 500 and moved up five spots. Shelton is losing 190 points this week, but he should easily win them back playing in the Toronto Masters tournament this week.
Since the schedule is staggered from last year, the trick will be to make up the 190 points from the 2024 Washington 500, plus the 45 points from the Canada Masters. A return to the semifinals does the trick with 360 points; reaching the final would grant at least 600.
Shelton gets a bye in the first round of the Toronto 1000 and will play either Marcos Giron or Adrian Mannarino, who reached through the qualifiers. Assuming he makes it through to the Round of 32, another meeting with Brandon Nakashima appears likely. Shelton is 4-0 against Nakashima in head-to-head matchups.
With a 96-player draw, it’s a bit difficult to predict further down the bracket, but potential matchups with Flavio Cobolli, Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe and Alexander Zverev exist. Stay tuned with Gators Wire for recaps throughout the week.
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Ben Shelton rises in ATP rankings for third week in a row
Reporting by David Rosenberg, Gators Wire / Gators Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
