Houston
Shelton starts clay-court swing with 21 ace statement in Houston
Top-seeded Team USA has entered the qualifying round
April 2, 2026
Kenneth Richmond/Getty Images
Ben Shelton reaches the quarterfinals in Houston.
Written by ATP Staff
Top seed Ben Shelton began his winning streak on clay with a 7-6(5), 7-6(3) victory over China’s Zhang Zhizhen at the Fayez Sarofim Inc. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship on Wednesday.
“This is my first match on clay in almost a year,” said Shelton, who had 21 aces. “I’m not comfortable playing from the baseline yet, it’s going to take time and a few games. I knew I had to serve effectively tonight and hit some aces, and I’m glad I did that.”
The entire match lasted 1 hour and 53 minutes, with neither side breaking serve. Shelton came back from 2/5 in the first set tie-break to win the first set.
Shelton won the Houston Trophy in 2024, competing on clay for the first time since advancing to the French Open quarterfinals last June. He arrives in Houston after a disappointing March, when he went 1-2 with sweeps of Indian Wells and Miami. Shelton will surpass Taylor Fritz to become the No. 1 American in the PIF ATP rankings on Monday.
The 23-year-old improves to 2-1 in the Lexus ATP Head2Head series against Zhang, who defeated Shelton at the clay-court ATP Masters 1000 event in Rome two years ago.
Entering the quarterfinals, Shelton will next meet Argentina’s Thiago Augustin Tirant for the first time. Tirante defeated Mackenzie McDonald 6-2, 6-0. Tirant’s compatriot Thomas Martin Echeverri also advanced to the quarterfinals, defeating Alex Bolt 6-7(5), 6-0, 6-3.
