“I never felt anything like this before.” Ben Shelton was left devastated at the US Open last month after suffering a painful shoulder injury that abruptly ended his campaign. The setback forced him to retire in the third round, leaving the young American in tears. Since then, the World No. 6 has worked his way back to fitness, returning to the tour in Shanghai — though without much success. But now, it seems he may have finally rediscovered his “rhythm.”

Shelton is competing in his second tournament since recovering from the injury he sustained in New York. In the Round of 32 at the ATP 500 event in Basel, he faced Poland’s Kamil Majchrzak, who pushed him to the limit. Majchrzak claimed the first set in a tiebreak, but Shelton refused to back down. Showing grit and determination, he fought back to level the match and eventually sealed victory in another tense tiebreaker. With a scoreline of 6-7, 6-3, 7-6(7), he advanced to the Round of 16 in thrilling fashion.

An elated Shelton shared after the win, “That was a difficult one. I knew it was going to be a tough one. My first match that I’ve won since getting injured.” He added, “Yeah, just really happy that I was able to create a little bit of momentum and get myself going here in Switzerland.”

When asked if the win brought relief, he admitted, “Yeah, it’s huge for me. When you’re trying to find your rhythm again, it can be tough as a tennis player — especially when you’re playing guys at the end of the season who are in form, while you’ve taken some weeks off and lost a little bit of rhythm.”

Reflecting on his preparation before the Swiss Indoors Open, Shelton said, “I did a great job in my preparation before this tournament to get to a place where I could be competing and playing well here. And even if that match was a loss today, I was happy with the way I competed and played.”

Now fully back in action, Shelton hopes to make this campaign count. Basel holds fond memories for him — it was here that he nearly captured the title last year. This time, he’s determined to go one step further and strengthen his bid for a spot in the ATP Finals in Turin.

Ben Shelton looks to lock his spot in the ATP Finals with a win in Basel

The 22-year-old American made his debut at the Swiss Indoors Open last season. In his maiden appearance, he went on to reach the summit clash. Unfortunately, he couldn’t overcome the challenge of Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.

This week, Shelton would like to replicate a similar performance and turn it into a title win. Doing so will also strengthen his chances of securing a place in the final top 8 participants at the ATP Finals in Turin. Currently, Shelton is in the sixth spot in the Live Race To Turin.

He is currently ahead of Aussie Alex de Minaur, Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti, and Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime. Winning the trophy in Basel may lock his spot to give him an official ticket to Turin.

But Ben Shelton’s way ahead is not going to be easy this week. In the next battle, he will face Spain’s Jaume Munar. The latter has the edge going into this clash. He is currently 2-1 ahead in the overall H2H tally. In fact, Munar has won the last two meetings with Shelton (Dallas and Rome). Hence, the American youngster will try to settle the score this time while also taking revenge for back-to-back defeats.