Ben Shelton dominates as seeded players lose at the Auckland Classic

AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) — Top-seeded American Ben Shelton bucked a trend when he beat Fabian Marozsan 6-3, 6-4 on Wednesday to reach the quarterfinals of the ATP Auckland Classic.

The tournament has been notable so far for the attrition rate among seeds and other leading players.

Fifth-seeded Chris Eubanks went out in the first round as did Gael Monfils—who lost to Marozsan—Roberto Bautista Agut, Denis Shapovalov and defending champion Richard Gasquet.

Third-seeded Francisco Cerundolo, fourth-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime, seventh-seeded Sebastian Ofner and eighth-seeded Max Purcell all lost in the second round.

Shelton had a few shaky moments early, dropping serve in the opening game of the match, then struggling to hold in the third game which contained 12 points and four deuces.