Ben Shelton battles into first ATP final of career in Tokyo, has now won 13 of last 15 matches

Ben Shelton seemed down and out—not only down a set, but also a double break. He was also two points from losing four times.

But he never stopped fighting.

The 21-year-old American came back from the brink of defeat down 7-6 (2), 5-2 to reach the first ATP final of his career in Tokyo on Saturday, winning an all-American semifinal thriller against Marcos Giron at the ATP 500 event, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (5), 6-4.

“It’s a huge achievement for me and my team,” Shelton said after the match. “Especially the way that the match panned out today. Definitely one of the toughest matches I’ve played in my life.

“You know, Marcos was waxing me from the baseline in almost every rally, and I had to completely change my game up to even have a chance to compete against him. So to be able to get through that match and not only figure some things out but get a win, and be going into my first ATP final, the win couldn’t be sweeter.”

Giron had taken out Top 20 players in the last two rounds—No. 8 Casper Ruud in the second round and No. 17 Felix Auger-Aliassime in the quarterfinals—before facing No. 19 Shelton in the semis.

Shelton had his chances in the first set—he was up 5-3 and served for it at 5-4, and after getting broken he even had an early 2-0 lead in the tie-break. Giron reeled off seven points in a row to take the set.

After four straight holds to start the second set Giron caught fire, breaking for 3-2, holding for 4-2 and breaking again for 5-2. He was even two points away from winning the match four times—at 5-2 and 30-all then at 5-4 and 30-0, 30-15 and 30-all—but Shelton just wouldn’t give in, getting both of the breaks back and even digging out of a 4-2 hole to sneak out the second set tie-break.

The two players stayed on serve in the third set through 3-all when Shelton pounced one last time, breaking for 4-3 and eventually riding that break to victory, firing his 13th ace of the match to close it out after two hours and 50 grueling minutes on court.

It was a high quality match from both players—in fact, Giron’s overall numbers for the match were even cleaner than Shelton’s. Giron finished with 43 winners to 24 unforced errors, a +19 differential, while Shelton had 41 winners to 28 unforced errors, a +13 differential.

But on the big moments Shelton was just that much better, going 4/8 on break point opportunities while Giron went 3/10.

Awaiting Shelton in the final will be either former Top 20 player Aslan Karatsev or 20-year-old Japanese wild card Shintaro Mochizuki.