Ben Shelton couldn’t believe they scheduled Ugo Humbert’s match at the Swiss Indoors right after his Ultimate Tennis Showdown final in Frankfurt. The Ultimate Tennis Showdown was fun, even though it didn’t get as much attention as other events like the Six Kings Slam and ATP and WTA tournaments last week. After some thrilling games, Shelton emerged victorious in Frankfurt, pulling off some amazing comebacks against Humbert.
During the event, there was a funny chat between Shelton and Gael Monfils on social media, where Shelton admitted that facing Rafael Nadal in his last singles match would be a "nightmare." Once their showdown wrapped up, both Shelton and Humbert headed straight to Basel for the Swiss Indoors. On Tuesday, Shelton began his journey against Tomas Martin Etcheverry.
Shelton beat Etcheverry in two sets but not without drama. An umpire mistakenly gave a point to Shelton after ruling that his shot hit Etcheverry directly. However, replays showed the ball bounced out first; it should have been Etcheverry’s point instead. This error gave Shelton two break points, which he quickly took advantage of.
| Name | Age | Points | Stats 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| us Ben Shelton | 22 | 2,590 | 19 - 11 |
Match Scheduling Controversy:
Fans might think it’s unfair how matches are scheduled sometimes. Unlike Humbert who had to play Jerome Kym early on Monday after flying from Frankfurt the night before, Shelton got an extra day to rest before playing against Etcheverry. Despite this scheduling hiccup, Humbert managed to win against Kym with scores of 6-4, 6-7, 7-5.
Shelton expressed his frustration on Instagram about having to play so soon after their intense Sunday battle in Frankfurt: "Guy plays last night in a different country and they play him first on Monday." Some people wonder if Humbert was being punished for participating in an exhibition event like the Ultimate Tennis Showdown or for criticizing ATP policies recently.
In an interview with Tennis Majors, Humbert called two-week ATP Masters-1000 events "bul****t" and disagreed with Jannik Sinner‘s comments about players choosing their tournaments freely. ATP rules don’t favor exhibition events either; perhaps that’s why Humbert had such an early match time on Monday.
Even though we can’t say for sure if this was intentional punishment by ATP or just coincidence, it seemed odd that Humbert played so early without much rest—but he still advanced! What do you think about these scheduling decisions?
