Paris Masters 1000: Shelton Defeats Cobolli for the Third Time This Year and Advances to the Round of 16

Ben Shelton is the first player to qualify for the round of 16 of the Paris tournament.

The first match of the round of 32 at the Paris Masters 1000 took place on Tuesday evening. Ben Shelton faced Flavio Cobolli for the fifth time. In their head-to-head record, the two players were tied (two wins each), but the American had won the last two encounters.

This season, the world No. 7 defeated the Italian in the first round in Acapulco (7-6, 7-6) and in the round of 16 of the Toronto Masters 1000 (6-4, 4-6, 7-6). This time, they met in Paris. After a tight first set won in a tiebreak, Shelton managed to accelerate in the second set to secure the only break of the match.

Solid on his serve as usual, the 23-year-old player won in straight sets (7-6, 6-3 in 1 hour and 31 minutes) and defeated Cobolli for the third consecutive time after losing their first two encounters.

He is the first player to qualify for the round of 16 and will face Andrey Rublev or Learner Tien for a spot in the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, the world No. 23 was unable to follow up on his first-round victory against Tomas Machac.