Ben Shelton faces trouble before rain ends in Auckland match on Thursday ATP Tour
Auckland
Shelton in trouble vs. Baez after rain stops in Thursday’s game in Oakland
Geelong beat Dudley in only completed final four
January 15, 2026
Hannah Peters/Getty Images
Ben Shelton and Sebastian Baez resume their quarterfinal clash in Oakland on Thursday.
Written by ATP Staff
Top seed Ben Shelton will have his work cut out for him when the ASB Classic quarterfinals resume in Oakland.
Rain disrupted Thursday’s ATP 250 schedule, with seventh-seeded Sebastian Baez ending the match prematurely at No. 8 in the PIF ATP Rankings Shelton 7-5, 0-1, 30/15. Baez broke Shelton’s left-hand serve three times in a chaotic start to help Lexus beat the American player in the first round of the ATP match.
Sealed style💫
Sebastian Baez defeated Shelton 7-5 in the first set.@ASB_classic | #ASBClassic26 pic.twitter.com/O9NqN1upGx
— ATP Tour (@atptour) January 15, 2026
The pair are scheduled to return to the court in Auckland on Friday afternoon to wrap up the tournament, with the winner set to face Marcos Giron in the semi-finals. In New Zealand’s only full quarterfinal match of the day, the United States beat Luciano Darderi 1-6, 7-5, 6-4.
According to Infosys ATP statistics, Geelong won five of the 10 break points against Dadri en route to a victory that took two hours and 36 minutes. The American is the first player to reach multiple tour-level semifinals this season, having also reached the semifinals in Hong Kong last week.
“It was tough, but that’s why we played the best in the three sets,” Giron said when asked about his difficult start to the match. “Losing a set sucks, but I figured why not lose quickly and move on!”
Two other quarterfinals were shortened in the first set on Thursday in Auckland. Fabian Marozsan was leading Eliot Spizziri 5-4, 30/30 when the rain came on, while Jakub Mensik was serving 0/30 against Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard when play was suspended.
