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Coming into his third-round match at the Australian Open Saturday with Lorenzo Musetti, Ben Shelton had dropped both of their prior meetings—including on hard courts at last year’s Miami Open.

The left-hander nearly found himself in a deciding set situation on John Cain Arena, before winning the final two points of a key tie-break. At 5-5, he got away with an airy drop shot to send a backhand winner into the open court, then drilled a forehand winner to close out the Paris Olympics bronze medalist, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5).

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In 2024, Shelton reached the fourth round at one major (Wimbledon).

Speaking about his opponent afterwards in an on-court interview, Shelton praised the Italian’s abilities. Beyond navigating Musetti’s racquet-wielding skills, the No. 21 seed was also ‘fighting’ to prevent something else on the day.

“He’s definitely one of the most talented guys on tour. One of the top three shot-makers on tour. He does some things you can’t believe when he’s on the court. I was 0-2 against him before today.

“We say on tour if someone beats you three times in a row, they’re your daddy, so I was fighting to not let that happen.”

If we go by that rule of thumb, Jannik Sinner and Shang Juncheng currently share daddy custody of Shelton. Sinner has won four consecutive showdowns after dropping the pair’s opening clash, while Shang is 3-0 against his fellow southpaw.

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His father Bryan Shelton, of course, is a former world No. 55 with two ATP titles to his name. Asked when he beat his pops for the first time, Shelton revealed, “he’s never let me play him. I don’t think he ever will let me play him. If I had to guess, it was probably 16 or 17.

“He probably still thinks he can beat me. I mean, we could come out on this court and run it right now.”

Bryan immediately wagged his finger with a definitive no.

It was at Melbourne Park where the younger Shelton produced his first notable run at a major, reaching the last eight in his first trip outside of the U.S. in 2023. The American now aims to replicate that showing when he takes on Gael Monfils. The Frenchman outplayed fourth seed Taylor Fritz to also move forward in four sets.