Coming off a championship at the BMW Open in Munich, Germany, Ben Shelton suffered another early exit at the Mutua Madrid Open in Spain on Friday.
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World No. 87 Dino Prizmic, who had to play through qualifiers to make the 128-man draw, defeated Shelton, 6-4, 6-7(4), 7-6(5) over three hours of action. Shelton played well, delivering 44 winners, 10 aces and winning 56% of his second-serve points. He also won 43% of his second-serve return points. Unforced errors (44), including one on the final point of the game, cost him the win.
"It means a lot," Prizmic said. "Today was a very hard match for me, and I just tried to play my game, stay focused every point, and it definitely worked today. I'm working a lot with my team to stay calm on the important points, but (Shelton) is No. 6 in the world. ... I was waiting for my chances, and I took them in the end."
Shelton is now 1-3 in ATP Masters 1000 events this year and has yet to make it through the Round of 32. It's also his second straight one-and-done performance at a Masters tournament after losing in the Round of 64 at the Miami Open a month ago.
Ben Shelton's ranking and future
Despite the early exit, Shelton should hold his No. 6 world ranking. No. 9 Daniil Medvedev and No. 10 Lorenzo Musetti are the next-closest players to him who made it to the Round of 16 in Madrid, and they are more than 500 points behind Shelton in the live standings. If either makes the final, they would earn 600 points and pass Shelton; however, if either makes the final, they would earn 600 points and pass Shelton.
Shelton's next tournament should be the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, a 1000-point ATP Masters in Rome, Italy. Play begins May 6, but the official draw is not out yet. Shelton lost in the Round of 64 a year ago to Jaume Munar.
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Ben Shelton one and done at Madrid Open, falls to 1-3 in Masters 1000s