Big serve, big smile, big win: Ben Shelton beats Tommy Paul for US ...

Physical as tennis always is, strong and fit as Paul and Shelton are, each man’s eclectic playing style also inspires a rare comparison to art. Per the directive of his coach, Brad Stine, avatar is Pablo Picasso. At his best, Paul can patrol the backcourt, charge the net proficiently, create openings one didn’t think were possible. But today, the lefthanded Shelton was akin to another great lefty artist, Leonardo da Vinci. Showing tremendous speed in rallies, as well as agility, feel and flair at the net and fantastic serving, Shelton soon began to smother Paul.

With Paul serving in the opener at 4-all, 30-30, Shelton threw up a defensive lob. Staring from the north side of the court right into the sun, Paul struck the overhead wide. At 30-40, Shelton emerged the winner of a cat-and-mouse exchange at the net. Said Paul, “He came to the net and, I mean, he volleyed really well. I thought that was one of the main differences in the match that changed stuff his way.” Overall, Shelton was 28 of 42 at the net, a statistic notable as much for its frequency as proficiency. At last in the lead, Shelton played the 5-4 game perfectly, including two aces from 30-love.

Much as Paul sought to scratch his way back in the second set, so much of the positive energy remained in Shelton’s corner. Talking to his team, Shelton said, “He’s pressed right now. Brad’s telling him the wrong spots on the serve, I can tell.” Was that necessarily true? It didn’t matter. What mattered was that Shelton was fully relishing the battle; a rare case also of a man seamlessly making his way from the world of college tennis (where mid-match coaching has always been permitted) to its now-legal presence in the pro game. “Yeah, I think it's really important that your team around you, the people in your box aren't panicking,” said Shelton. “When I saw that they were calm and they thought I was doing things the right way and I was playing well and ready to keep going, I took a lot of confidence from that.”

Once again, in the crucial stage of a set, Paul blinked. Serving at 3-3, 30-30, he double-faulted. On the break point, Paul controlled most of the rally, but backed off charging the net when presented with potential opportunities and in time netted a forehand. Serving at 4-3, 30-30, Shelton closed out the game with two aces, then, surprisingly, broke a seemingly demoralized Paul at 15 to take a two sets to love lead.