Ben Shelton battled past Andrey Rublev 7-5 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 to advance to his seventh tour level semifinal at the Swiss Indoors in Basel.
Shelton fired 13 aces and saved all six of the break points he faced. The 22-year-old player converted each of the two break points he earned.
Shelton has not dropped serve in his three tournament wins against Tomas Martin Etcheverry, Stan Wawrinka and Andrey Rublev this week.
Shelton has become the third US player to score 40 match wins this season behind US Open finalist Taylor Fritz (49) and Queen’s Club finalist Tommy Paul (45).
Shelton has become the first player to beat a top seed in Basel before the semifinals since Misha Zverev beat Stan Wawrinka in the 2016 semifinals.
Shelton saved all three break points to hold for 3-2. Rublev, who was playing his 13th quarter final of the season, held on his service games drawing level to 5-5. Rublev hit a return winner down the line to draw level to 30-all on Shelton’s serve. Rublev slammed a second serve before hitting a forehand down the line to take a 6-5 lead.
Shelton earned his only break with a deep return followed by a netted error from Rublev to seal the first set 7-5 after 47 minutes. The US player won 8 of his 10 second serve points and saved all three break points he faced in the opening set.
Shelton saved all three break points he faced to hold a seven-minute service game edging ahead 2-1 in the second set. Both players went on serve en route to the tie-break. Shelton earned the mini-break to take a 4-2 lead. The Russian player hit a smash to earn four set points at 6-2. He clinched the second set when Shelton missed a return to force the match to the third set after 1 hour and 42 minutes.
Rublev held four consecutive service games to love to start the third set, but Shelton earned a crucial break with his passing shot to take a 5-4 lead.
Shelton earned three match points with his 13th ace and sealed the win when Rublev missed a forehand return long.
“I knew this was a big one for me. I struggled a lot this year in quarter finals, and I have lost a lot of them against top 10 players. It’s been a tough hump to overcome, but to get to second to last week of the year, and finally do is huge for me”, said Shelton.
