Houston
Tirant beats Shelton in Houston
Argentina eliminates 2024 champions
April 3, 2026
american clay
Thiago Agustin Tirant defeated Ben Shelton in three sets on Friday in Houston.
Written by ATP Staff
World No. 83 Thiago Agustin Tirante earned one of the biggest wins of his career in Houston on Friday, defeating top seed and 2024 champion Ben Shelton 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4 to reach the semifinals of the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship.
The Argentinian lost just three games against Colton Smith in the week’s opener and two against Mackenzie MacDonald in the second round. Tillante showed confidence against Shelton, earning his second career top-10 win in 2 hours and 30 minutes.
“I’m really happy with this win, it’s my second top-10 finish, so I’m really happy with the job we did with my team,” Tillante said. “I know Ben is a very difficult player to play against and a great player, so I had to take more risks at certain points in the game.
“I did it. Sometimes I did it well, sometimes I did it badly, but that’s the key. [I had to be] Always maintain a strong mentality and work hard to break serve. His service is great. I’ve tried my best [job]”.
The 24-year-old reached a career-high world ranking of No. 74 in the PIF ATP Rankings last month, rising to No. 71 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings. Two years ago, he reached his first ATP Tour semifinal in Bastad, defeating Andrey Rublev, who was ranked eighth in the world at the time. Now, he’s 2-0 against the top 10 after defeating world number nine Shelton to reach his second tour-level semifinal.
“I have the level. The game is the game. Sometimes you learn and sometimes you win,” Tillante said. “But I’m really happy with the level that I’ve shown to the people here, to myself, to my team, I’m really happy with that.”
Shelton took a medical timeout to be treated by ATP physical therapists in the second set with an apparent neck or upper back injury. But this year’s Dallas champion kept fighting, forcing his opponents to play special tennis to keep going.
Tirant did just that. According to Infosys ATP Statistics, the six-time ATP Challenger champion was aggressive with his forehand in an attempt to dominate the baseline and won 88% of his first-serve points. In his first Lexus ATP matchup with Shelton, he didn’t lose serve.
The Argentine is on track to reach his first ATP Tour final after Roman Andres Burruchaga knocked out third seed Learn Tien 7-5, 6-4 earlier in the day.
Like Tirant, Bruchaga is trying to play in his first tour-level championship match. The world No. 77 won 42% of his return points against Thien and saved three of four break points.
