After ‘100 DMs,’ Ben Shelton partners with Aleksandar Kovacevic to win Dallas doubles title | ATP Tour
After ‘100 DMs,’ Shelton teams with Kovacevic for tag team win in Dallas
Team USA defeats Dimitrov and University of Bulgaria star Georgiev
February 10, 2026
Peter Staples/ATP
Ben Shelton partnered with Alexander Kovacevic to win their first doubles win since the Australian Open.
Written by ATP Staff
After posting on Instagram that he was looking for a doubles partner at the Nexo Dallas Open, Ben Shelton said he received “hundreds of private messages” from potential teammates. After his first victory on Monday, he seemed to have made the right choice, partnering compatriot Alexander Kovacevic in his first competitive match since the Australian Open singles quarterfinals.
On center court, the American pair defeated Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov and Georgi Georgiev, current college players at nearby Southern Methodist University, 5-7, 7-6(3), 10-3.
Despite missing two break opportunities in the match, Kovacevic and Shelton seized their chances in both tiebreaks to advance, according to Infosys ATP statistics. They took the first point in the second set tie-break with a score of 6/5 and then led 8/0 in the tie-break. The Americans blasted 18 aces in the match, including one from Kovacevic on match point, and won 88 percent (49/46) of their first-serve points.
Kovacevic and Shelton await third-seeded France’s Sadio Doumbia and Fabian Reible or U.S. qualifiers Tyler Hildebrand and Mike Kiger in the quarterfinals.
In the only doubles match in Dallas this week, Evan King and John Pierce saved two match points to beat fourth-seeded Americans Robert Cash and James Tracy 7-6(1), 3-6, 11-9.
