Ben Shelton narrowly escapes Dan Evans in Acapulco after Tommy Paul falls to Jack Draper

Ben Shelton avoided joining countryman Tommy Paul in exiting the opening round of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel Monday night. The 21-year-old narrowly escaped Dan Evans, who served for their match in Acapulco before Shelton dug himself out of trouble for a 2-6, 7-5, 7-6 (5) victory.

“Definitely a really tricky matchup for me,” Shelton told the World Feed afterwards. “Dan a guy that I know well. We have a lot banter in the locker room. A guy [whose] game presents a lot of challenges.

“To come out of this first match in Acapulco with a win after losing the first set is a big accomplishment for me.”

Evans served lights out to post a dominant opening set. But after getting broken at love to end set two, he was in danger of the same scenario playing out with the match at stake when he served at 4-5, 0-40 in the decider. Following a corrected first serve, Shelton missed a look at a backhand pass on his second match point and was then overpowered by a forehand down the line to see the golden opportunity evaporate.

The 33-year-old would hold, then benefited from a sloppy game from Shelton’s end of the court to break at love. Yet Evans couldn’t close either, dropping serve at 15 as Shelton’s firepower overmatched his change in pace to bring up a decisive tiebreak.

The two exchanged mini breaks to start, before the server held firm on the next seven points. Up 5-4, Shelton unloaded on an inside-in forehand that was returned long to bring up two more match points. On the fifth time of asking, he finally crossed the finish line at the 2:43 mark with a textbook serve and volley.

The 2023 US Open semifinalist finished with 43 winners to 40 unforced errors. Shelton will meet Taylor Fritz in the second round if his compatriot advances past Matteo Arnaldi.

Earlier, Jack Draper blitzed past last year’s finalist Paul, 6-0, 6-4, in 85 minutes to avenge his second-round defeat at the Australian Open. The left-hander saved all three break points he faced in the opening set and broke Paul for a fourth time to end the match when his seventh-seeded opponent yanked a forehand wide.