Ben Shelton admits what he was ‘struggling’ with in his first round match against Reilly Opelka in Tokyo

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Ben Shelton expressed the difficulties of facing Reilly Opelka after beating him at the Tokyo Open.

The tournament was the scene of the American’s first ATP Tour Title in 2023 and therefore, he has now entered a tournament as the defending champion for the first time.

Ben Shelton had a tricky task of trying to defeat Reilly Opelka, who is still trying to find his best form after returning from a long injury layoff in the summer.

The 21-year-old was made to work extremely hard, but in the battle of the big servers, the World number 17 defeated his compatriot in three sets to keep his title defence on track.

What did Ben Shelton find hard about facing Reilly Opelka?

Following Shelton’s exploits at the Laver Cup, he went up against Opelka for the second time in his career, with the first coming at the Cincinnati Masters.

The former US Open semi-finalist came through two tiebreaks that day, but he needed three sets to get past Opelka in the Japanese capital.

He came from a set down and registered 11 winners in a 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 victory after one hour and 47 minutes.

Post-match Shelton explained what he found challenging about facing Opelka. “I think it was a tough start. I felt like I was struggling a little bit and getting rhythm,” he said via the ATP website. “I thought Reilly was serving and returning extremely well and that made things difficult.

“When you play someone like Reilly, who can take the racquet out of your hand, it is never going to be an easy match. I am happy with the way I competed. Breaking serve multiple times gives me a lot of confidence.”

Ben Shelton is thrilled to be back in Tokyo after securing career milestone in 2023

Tokyo will always be a special city to Shelton after he won his first ATP title there 12 months ago.

He defeated Aslan Karatsev in the final and he has since gone on to win another title in Houston back in April. Now back in Tokyo, Shelton is thrilled to try and defend a title for the first time in his career.

“I have a lot of love for this tournament and this city,” said Shelton, who will play Argentina’s Mariano Navone next. “I have a lot of confidence.

“Being here and knowing the situations I have come through in this exact stadium, in the most important moments.”