Ben Shelton solves home favorite Stan Wawrinka in Basel, top seed Rublev looms

Ben Shelton booked an intriguing quarterfinal clash with top seed Andrey Rublev at the Swiss Indoors Basel, edging home favorite past Stan Wawrinka, 7-6 (2), 7-5.

"I thought I was just tough in the big moments," he said on court after the match. "There was a lot of challenges out there today, but I thought he played a really good match. The crowd was really into it, obviously, behind their guy.

"I was struggling to return his serve, and I thought he put the ball in some tricky positions. I was happy with the way I defended my break points, and being clutch in the big moments is what won me the match today."

The American continued a solid progress through the indoor swing, the sixth seed edging past the former world No. 3 in 95 minutes on Center Court.

At 22, Shelton has shown steady improvements since his breakout 2023 season, during which he reached his first major semifinal at the US Open. Though he fell in five sets to fellow American Frances Tiafoe in Flushing Meadows last month, he has shown solid form with the off-season in sight, pulling off a comeback win over Daniil Medvedev at Laver up and playing world No. 1 Jannik Sinner tough over two sets at the Rolex Shanghai Masters.

Playing indoors in Basel, Shelton’s lefty serve makes him a formidable opposition, and he is yet to drop a set heading into the last eight. But first, he had to get past Wawrinka, a three-time major champion still capable of vintage form.

The 39-year-old edged is fresh off a semifinal finish in Sotckholm, where he defeated Rublev in a pair of tiebreakers, and edge past Adrian Mannarino in three sets to kick off his week in Basel. Taking on Shelton for the first time, the match came down to a single break of serve in the penultimate game of the match. Otherwise, the pair were evenly matched throughout the two sets, battling to a tiebreaking in the first set.

It was at the end of each set that Shelton was able to step up, powering through the Sudden Death after taking a 5-0 lead, and broke serve at five games apiece in the second, serving the contest out at love. In all, he struck an impressive 34 winners to just 19 unforced errors, winning 58 of 73 points played on his serve.

Though Shelton is mathematically out of contention to qualify for the ATP Finals, he could still play a part in determining the elite eight when he takes on Rublev, who currently sits eighth in the PIF Race to Turin. The two will face off for the first time on Friday.

For his part, the mercurial Rublev has been similar efficient through his first two matches, defeating both Nuno Borges and Alejandro Tabilo in straight sets.

Earlier in the afternoon—and with a near-indentical scoreline to Shelton—No. 3 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated dangerous Dutch qualifier Botic van de Zandschulp, 7-6 (3), 7-5. The two-time major finalist will next face No. 7 seed Arthur Fils, who defeated Spain’s Pedro Martinez in straight sets.