It wasn’t exactly a scenario of dazzling promise for Lorenzo Sonego as he arrived on No.1 Court for his last 16 encounter with No.10 seed Ben Shelton.
Even if the Italian somehow contrived to feel no ill-effects from his five hours and four minutes third round win over Brandon Nakashima on Saturday – the longest match at Wimbledon since 2018 – the world No.47 had lost his last 14 matches against top 10 players, and more specifically all six of his career matches against top 10 players on grass.
Yet early doors Shelton was the one who appeared irritably below par, as almost two-thirds of his key first serves in the opening set wandered off target. With each man bidding for his first Wimbledon quarter-final, Sonego happily accepted the gift.
But once the left-hander roused himself, he countered Sonego’s industry to navigate a 3-6, 6-1, 7-6(1), 7-5 path into the last eight for the first time.
“Before the last game, I was thinking ‘I don’t want to play another tiebreak’, especially against a guy serving the way he is,” said Shelton.
“I’m getting very comfortable out here on No.1 Court,” he said. “I was told before I came over here for the first time that the crowds here at Wimbledon were a bit quieter than the other Slams but I didn’t feel that today.”
Spooky stat of the day: this was the third Grand Slam meeting between these two this year. It made them the first duo to contest such a triptych since 1984, when Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe met at Roland-Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open (this at a time when the Australian Open was played as the last Slam of the calendar).
So Shelton completed a season’s Slam trio of wins over Sonego here, but in the opening set he was unsettled as much by his opponent’s delivery tactics as by his own wandering first serve.
With the Italian snatching an early break, the two of them engaged in an unusual brand of mind games – Sonego pushed the shot clock to its limit with his preparatory ball-bouncing, while Shelton saw no reason to crouch to receive until the last moment.
When Sonego pocketed the set, it was the first the American had surrendered this Fortnight, and his frustration did not improve at the changeover when the umpire suggested he crouch to receive somewhat sooner.
Perhaps it benefited Shelton. He rebutted two break points with great hands at the net, and from there found a way to victory, although not always with authority. Perhaps the cupping marks visible on the shoulder of his mighty playing arm indicated an issue.
In any case, periodic loose play prevented him taking the match by the scruff of the neck, and he leaned on his serve to get himself out of trouble. At three hours and four minutes, it was Shelton’s lengthiest contest of the Fortnight to date.
More importantly, it also confirmed something else from his current campaign. The longer a set goes on, the likelier he is to win it – useful for the mental armoury when the tussle gets tough at the business end of a set.
Of his 13 sets played so far, he has won all four tiebreaks contested, along with two further chapters finishing 7-5 in his favour. His third set tiebreak here was tremendous, with a whistling 86mph return contributing as much as his stonewall serve – and his final game of the match was better still.
So Shelton has broken new ground here. From now on, the test becomes ever sterner, and he knows it.
“I felt like the last game was my best tennis and my best returning,” he said. “It’s what I’m going to need to continue in this tournament.”
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