Top seed Ben Shelton breezed past Australian Rinky Hijikata 6-4, 6-0 in his first grass court win of the season, and now faces Britain’s Paul Jubb who had an easy 6-0, 6-3 victory over Adam Walton.
American Shelton, who lost in the first round in Stuttgart and Queens in the last two weeks, showed clear signs of intent even in the first service game when his service speeds touched 144mph and included a second serve ace. In his return games he also surprised Hijikata by approaching the net off the return of serve – adopting the so-called “SABR” (Sneak Attack by Roger) tactic employed by legend Roger Federer towards the end of his career.
“It was a really fun match today,” said Shelton on court after his win. “I’m happy to be back in Mallorca. I love playing here. I had a really tough first match here last year, losing 7-6 in the third, so I’m really happy to get my first win here. I’m really pleased with how I played today. I’m getting used to grass day by day.”
The key moment of the match came in the five-minute period when Hijikata held two breakpoints with the scores 3-2 and 15-40 in his favour in the first set, but Shelton produced the big serves when it mattered. And in the next game the 75th ranked Hijikata faced breakpoints of his own and faltered when Shelton fired three consecutive fizzing forehands to take the lead.
From thereon, Shelton gained confidence in all aspects of his game saving all six breakpoints against him and finishing with 24 winners and 13 aces, while Hijikata – who reached the quarters of Queens last week – looked lost and was blown away in the second set without getting a game on the board.
In the quarter finals, he will play Paul Jubb from Britain who won the battle of the qualifiers against Adam Walton in just 55 minutes. Jubb has now played four matches to reach this stage and will give away a massive 275 ranking places in his upcoming showdown with Shelton, scheduled for last on court tomorrow.
Meanwhile, 18-year-old Jakub Mensik continued his remarkable run in Mallorca after winning a titanic battle with Italian veteran Fabio Fognini 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 where the first three games alone lasted over 40 minutes. Mensik defeated defending champion Christopher Eubanks in the previous round and now faces Chilean fourth seed Alejandro Tabilo who beat Alexander Shevchenko 6-3, 6-2 in 69 minutes.
