Ben Shelton advanced to the second round of Australian Open 2026 with a hard-fought 6-3 7-6(2) 7-6(5) win over France’s Ugo Humbert on Tuesday.
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The lefty showdown at Rod Laver Arena saw the eighth seed, fresh off a breakout season that took him to world No.5, produce scintillating form against an opponent who missed out on a seeded spot by just one place.
The American set the tone at 5-2 in the first with a Rafa-esque forehand return, letting out a spirited giggle while the ball landed.
The second set turned into a tight tussle when Humbert, ranked world No.14 two years ago, lifted his level. As momentum swung back and forth, Shelton unleashed a cross-court backhand with authority, roaring to the crowd once he seized control of the decider.
“Breaking two times in that set, I knew I was returning well, I also knew I was serving well, just got a little unlucky with those two breaks – that’s what I told myself,” Shelton said.
The quality of Shelton’s backhands kept climbing through the third set, keeping Humbert pinned deep behind the baseline to give the American time to rip his lethal forehand.
The world No.7 struck 43 winners and 15 aces throughout the match, including a 226km/h rocket that drew gasps from the crowd. He credited his controlled aggression to the calmness he’s developed from playing big matches at Rod Laver Arena.
“I’ve played a lot of great tiebreakers here, I’ve got a lot of experience, and I think that helped me a lot today,” he said.
“Obviously, playing Ugo in the first round is a tough draw, on a court like this or anywhere. For me, it’s just about focusing on what I’ve been working on and the areas I’m trying to improve.”
One pattern that stood out during the match was Shelton’s defensive use of his backhand slice, a shot he said became essential against opponents who keep the ball low to his backhand side.
“It's interesting, because usually for most players, the side that they hit their forehand on, the ball bounces a little higher, backhand stays a little lower,” he said.
“So with Humbert or [Cam] Norrie or [Adrian] Mannarino, when they're hitting their backhand to my backhand, it stays super low. It feels like it's at my knees or almost on the ground, so I end up hitting a lot more backhand slices.
“I prefer serving against lefties,” he added.
“I think that there's a lot more serves that come into play that are tough to deal with. I think that lefties automatically are going to struggle with my kick serve to their backhand, which is the only time that I'm ever, like, ‘Oh, I wish I was righty’, and I could hit a kick serve to a righty's backhand, and then return a serve 100 per cent.
“Especially a lot of these French guys who are lefties stand out all the way on the sideline. Humbert, Mannarino, they hit an angle halfway up the box, and you're in the side fence or the whatever, side barrier on Rod Laver, which is pretty far out.”
After reaching the semifinals at AO 2025, the 23-year-old looks primed for another deep run at Melbourne Park.
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It’s a tall order, but if Shelton can get past back-to-back champion Jannik Sinner, he would become the first American man since Andre Agassi to reach an Australian Open final.
Like every good tennis player, he’ll be taking it one match at a time.
That next challenge is Australian qualifier Dane Sweeney, who ended Gael Monfils' Australian Open journey on Tuesday in four sets.
Later on Tuesday, Shelton’s compatriot Taylor Fritz pushed past Frenchman Valentin Royer to advance to the second round with a 7-6(5) 5-7 6-1 6-3 victory at John Cain Arena.
Fritz, a quarterfinalist at AO 2024, served 24 aces to just three double faults and smacked 65 winners, the ninth seed progressing in a tick over three hours.
The 28-year-old will play Czechia's Vit Kopriva, who stormed through the final two sets to oust German Jan-Lennard Struff 4-6 6-2 2-6 6-3 6-1 in three hours and eight minutes.