Match Report
Shevchenko adds to Shelton’s Miami struggles with upset win
World No. 84 scored only break of match in final set
March 22, 2026
ATP Tour
Alexander Shevchenko earns his third Top 10 win with an upset of Ben Shelton in Miami.
By ATP Staff
Alexander Shevchenko sent Ben Shelton to another early exit at the Miami Open presented by Itau with a comeback victory Saturday night at the ATP Masters 1000 event.
With his 6-7(3), 7-6(3), 6-3 upset, the Kazakhstani picked up his third Top 10 win and dropped Shelton to 1-4 at the biggest tournament in his adopted home state of Florida. The American’s defeat to the World No. 84 is his worst defeat by PIF ATP Ranking since he fell to No. 192 Coleman Wong last year in Miami.
Shevchenko, whose previous Top 10 wins came on indoor hard courts against Taylor Fritz (Basel, 2023) and Holger Rune (Rotterdam, 2024), is through to the third round at an ATP Masters 1000 for the fourth time in his career after reaching that stage in Madrid and Rome in 2023 and Shanghai in 2024.
After being two points from defeat at 4-5, 15/30 in the second set, the 25-year-old summoned his best tennis in the ensuing tie-break and early in the third set, taking the match to the home favourite with aggressive baseline cuts that blunted Shelton’s explosive game. Shevchenko did not create a break point in the opening two sets but made the most of his opportunity in the second game of the final set, taking the initiative in the rallies and pressuring Shelton into baseline errors.
Until late in set two, Shelton was dominating on serve with a win rate above 80 per cent on his first and second deliveries. He finished with a 58 per cent win rate on second serve, according to Infosys ATP Stats, as Shevchenko made him work to earn every hold in the final set. The Kazakhstani showed no signs of nerves down the stretch, losing just one point in his final two service games and closing out the win with a swinging-volley winner.
Shevchenko will next face 31st seed Ugo Humbert, who defeated Gabriel Diallo 6-1, 6-4 earlier on Saturday.
