He was looking to get back to winning ways following an impressive run to the Australian Open semi-finals in January.

Ben Shelton had a tricky opponent to start his campaign in Acapulco, but he passed a stern test and will continue his quest for a third ATP Tour title.

Ben Shelton explains motivation behind beating Flavio Cobolli at Mexican Open

Shelton began his Mexican Open campaign against fellow young player Flavio Cobolli.

The 22-year-old had lost to the Italian in both of their previous matches against one another, and he was determined not to make it a third.

It was a hard-fought-battle in which Shelton prevailed 7-6(4), 7-6(4) to advance to the next round, and claim his first win against Cobolli.

Post-match, Shelton spoke about the importance of not losing to Cobolli for the third successive time, which is in reference to a joke from Shelton that a rival becomes their ‘daddy’ if they lose to them three consecutive times.

“That was one I wanted really bad,” Shelton said post-match. “For me I won the first set in the first two matches and ended up going down a break in the second, losing the second, and ultimately losing in three sets. So for me I wanted to fight back there, complete it in two and get off the court.

“It’s never easy going into a match being 0-2 against somebody. Like I said in Australia, you go 0-3 and they become your daddy, so I was fighting again for that not to happen and happy with the performance.”

Who does Ben Shelton play next?

After claiming his first win against Cobolli, Shelton will take on a player at the opposite end of his career.

The World number 14 will face David Goffin, now 34 and ranked 63 in the world. He defeated Australia’s Rinky Hijikata in the first round.

The former top 10 player is searching for the seventh title of his career and a first since 2022.

This will be the first meeting between Shelton and Goffin in what can be described as a clash of generations.