• The American, ranked ninth in the world, won his first title of the season and fourth of his career.
  

Mexico City, February 16. American Ben Shelton will arrive at the 33rd edition of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presented by HSBC, to be held February 21-28 in the beautiful port of Acapulco, after winning the ATP 500 title in Dallas.

Shelton, ninth in the ATP Rankings, played his 200th match on Sunday in the final of the Nexo Dallas Open, where he defeated his compatriot Taylor Fritz, eighth in the world, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5.

It was not an easy start for Shelton, who came back from a set down and saved three championship points in the tenth game of the third set to tie the score at 5-5, then broke Fritz and sealed the match 7-5. 

The victory gave Shelton his first title in 2026 and the fourth of his career after Tokyo 2023, Houston 2024, and the 2025 Canadian Masters 1000, bringing his overall record to 121-79 in a career that began in 2022. 

That is the calling card of the tennis player born in Atlanta 23 years ago.

Shelton will arrive at the ATP 500 in Acapulco as one of the favorites to win the title, along with Germany’s Alexander Zverev (No. 3) and Australia’s Alex de Miñaur (No. 6), who won the ATP 500 title in Rotterdam on Sunday. 

Before Dallas, the prodigious left-hander, who has a powerful serve that has reached 241 km per hour on several occasions, reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, where he was eliminated by Italy’s Jannik Sinner.

After capturing the title in Dallas, Shelton now sets his sights on Acapulco, where he will appear for the fourth consecutive year. In his appearances in Mexico, he has shown his tennis skills, but he has yet to be among the contenders for the title, a step forward he can take in this edition.