\u201cIt was my first match in almost a year on clay,\u201d said Shelton, who hammered 21 aces. \u201cI didn\u2019t feel that comfortable playing from the baseline yet, it\u2019s just something that\u2019s going to take time and take a few matches. I knew I had to be effective with my serve tonight and hit a few aces, and I\u2019m happy that I did.\u201d<\/p>\n
Neither player broke serve throughout the one-hour, 53-minute match, during which Shelton rallied from 2\/5 in the first-set tie-break to win the opener. <\/p>\n
Shelton, who won the Houston trophy in 2024, is playing his first clay-court event since advancing to the Roland Garros<\/a> quarter-finals last June. He arrived in Houston following a disappointing March, when he went 1-2 across Indian Wells and Miami. Shelton is set to surpass <\/a>Taylor Fritz<\/a> for American No. 1 honours in Monday’s PIF ATP Rankings.<\/p>\n \nThe 23-year-old improved to 2-1 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Zhang, who beat Shelton two years ago at the clay-court ATP Masters 1000 event in Rome.<\/p>\n Into the quarter-finals, Shelton will next meet Argentine Thiago Agustin Tirante<\/a> for the first time. Tirante downed Mackenzie McDonald<\/a> 6-2, 6-0.<\/p>\n Fourth seed Tommy Paul<\/a> overcame a stern test from Paraguay\u2019s Adolfo Daniel Vallejo<\/a>, rallying past the 21-year-old 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. Paul trailed 1-3 in the deciding set before winning five of the next six games to escape.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was tough for both of us to hold,\u201d said Paul, commenting on the 10 breaks of serve across the match. \u201cI think in those long rallies it was about digging deep, seeing who could come out on top with the long ones. <\/p>\n \u201cI started playing a little bit more aggressive, I thought it helped me out. It\u2019s always tough in these early rounds in these tournaments, especially changing surfaces. Hopefully all that court time today can help me going forward in the tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n Up next for Paul is Tomas Martin Etcheverry<\/a>, whom the American beat last week in the Miami fourth round. Etcheverry advanced with a 6-7(5), 6-0, 6-3 victory against Alex Bolt<\/a>.<\/p>\n Vallejo was playing a Top 50 opponent for the first time in his career and was attempting to become the first Paraguayan to reach an ATP Tour quarter-final since 2006.<\/p>\n