Shelton reverses RG fortunes against Sonego

But Shelton didn’t just deny Sonego a second win against him in Paris; he also doused the Italian’s own hopes of major-stage revenge, as the two faced off in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open in January (a tilt won by Shelton in four sets).

The former University of Florida Gator hadn’t lost in the first round of a major since his first Parisian defeat to the right-hander from Turin, and started his first-ever night match at Roland-Garros in pitch-perfect fashion.

But Shelton soon was pulled into a barnburner by the dogged Italian, who repeatedly stretched the left-hander into protracted baseline rallies as Sunday turned to Monday.

Story of the match

Commentator John McEnroe dubbed the fourth all-time tilt between Shelton and Sonego as the toughest match of the first round, and it lived up to that billing as the joint second-longest match of Day 1.

After winning the first set, Shelton came to rue a missed overhead in the seventh game of the second set—and was broken at the close of a titanic six-deuce game.

Set three slipped away in a blink, too, as Shelton lost four straight games, and 16 of the 20 points played in them, in a flurry that ensured he would need to play a 10th career five-set match to escape the opening round.

He did just that, confessing that he needed to dig deep to improve to 7-3 in such matches. Not only did he wear down Sonego in the end; he also needed to overcome the spectre of an injury as the match reached its crescendo.

After winning the fourth set, Shelton appeared to tweak something in his 6ft 4in frame—and took a medical timeout before the final set.

None the worse for wear, eight straight points to Shelton’s side from 1-2 in the decider gave him a lead he’d never relinquish—and he won five straight games to move safely through to the second round.

Key stats

Shelton is one of the tour’s most prolific servers, and he needed to summon all his firepower to help turn the match around.

Fifteen aces—a third of which were hit in the final set—helped Shelton slam the door. Most crucially, he struck his 15th and final ace at 30-30 in the eighth game of the fifth, and didn’t lose a point from there.

After three sets played, Sonego had one more winner than his total unforced errors, with Shelton sitting in the red with six more errors than winners. But by the time the match ended? Shelton racked up 58 winners to 42 unforced errors, with Sonego totalling 35 winners to 37 miscues.

Shelton speaks

On his respect for Sonego: “He’s a big match player, a Grand Slam player, and you guys saw some of the hot shots tonight. Some crazy tennis from him, and I love sharing the court with him. It was my first time being out here on Court Philippe-Chatrier, and it definitely won’t be one that I forget.”

On making his Chatrier debut following the celebration honouring Rafael Nadal: “I thought it was a typo at first, a mix-up and it was actually Court 7. I was really excited, I couldn’t believe it. For me, the Slams are my favourite four tournaments, and playing on the stadium courts at these tournaments is an honour. It was really special. Obviously, having Rafa’s ceremony before the match; it gives you goosebumps just being out here on this court. To get a win the way that I did, in five sets, late at night, was a dream come true.”