In his third-round win over Andrey Rublev on Thursday—a result that secured Shelton a spot in his first ATP Finals—the American won 81% of his service points, and didn’t offer a single break point.
“I’ve been in a great serving rhythm,” Shelton told Tennis Channel’s Prakash Amritraj at the Rolex Paris Masters, “it’s tough to break me when I’m serving like that.”
↗️ Stream live Friday, 2:00 p.m. ET, on the Tennis Channel app: Shelton vs. Sinner
Another near-flawless day with the ball in his hand may be required against Sinner, who is in the quarterfinals of this tournament for the first time. He’s had little trouble getting acclimated to the event’s new setting in La Defense, racing to the finish line in wins over Zizou Bergs and Francisco Cerundolo.
The Argentinean broke Sinner twice on Wednesday, and if Shelton sees some chances come his way on Friday, he’ll need to take advantage in order to snap his losing streak.
“When it comes to the return games, just dig,” said Shelton, who broke Rublev twice. “Every ball back in the court.”
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