April 4, 2026, 7:29 p.m. ET
Ben Shelton entered the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship in Houston, Texas, as the top seed, but he suffered his third upset loss of the month in the quarter-finals against World No. 83 Thiago Agustin Tirante.
Tirante took the match 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4, taking break points against Shelton in the second and third sets. It’s just the second top-10 victory of Tirante’s career.
Shelton, who dealt with the flu in his brief run at Indian Wells, once again had health concerns. He took a medical timeout in the second set to receive treatment from a physiotherapist on his neck/upper back.
Shelton had a bye in the Round of 32 as the top seed and defeated World No. 263 Zhizhen Zhang, 7-6(5), 7-6(3), in the Round of 16. A quarter-final appearance earns him 50 tour points, which adds 40 to his season total, taking into account points lost as the 52-week schedule rolls. Shelton will move ahead of Taylor Fritz to No. 8 in the World, once again claiming the top spot among Americans.
The silver lining for Shelton is that he’s found success in doubles action alongside Andres Andrade of Ecuador. The two have made a surprise run to the final as a wild-card pairing.
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They beat Benjamin Kittay and Rajeev Ram 7-6(3), 6-4 in the Round of 16, third-seeded Marcelo Demoliner and Robert Galloway 3-6, 6-1, 10-8 in the quarter-finals and Rinky Hijakata and Ryan Seggerman 6-1, 6-2 in the semi-finals. Andres and Shelton will face top-seeded Orlando Luz and Rafael Matos on Sunday at noon ET in the final.
Shelton participates regularly in doubles action, but he’s only been ranked inside the top 100 for four weeks since August 2024. He’ll climb at least eight spots to No. 93 in the next rankings update, thanks to 150 points gained in Houston. A championship would give him another 100 points and put him at No. 83 in the doubles rankings.
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