World number 52 Mackenzie McDonald faces fellow American and 39th-ranked Ben Shelton in the first round of the 2023 ATP Barcelona Open on Monday, April 17. Get the predictions and odds of this Mackenzie McDonald v Ben Shelton match along with its preview, head to head, and tips here.
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Mackenzie McDonald v Ben Shelton Head to Head
This will be the first meeting between these two players.
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McDonald Makes Slow Clay Start
Playing in his first match on clay this season at the Monte-Carlo Masters, McDonald took on 26-year-old Ivan Gakhov in the first round of this tournament and was a 3/5 favourite to come through.
In a three-setter that followed, McDonald fell to his unheralded opponent and crashed out of the competition.
McDonald hasn’t quite had the best of times on clay in his career otherwise either. In the 21 matches he had played before this, McDonald had won just eight while losing 21 of them.
The slightly offsetting factor is 2022 was one of his better seasons on clay with the American having reached the second round in Barcelona and the third round at Roland-Garros – losing to Diego Schwartzman and Jannik Sinner respectively there.
Can he turn things around for 2023 here?
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Shelton’s Early Days on Clay
This is the first season in which Shelton has played at the highest level on clay and it’s been a bit of a shaky start for him.
Perched at his career-best ranking of 39th in the world, Shelton started off well with a straight-set win over Constant Lestienne at the Estoril Open. Since then, however, the Australian Open quarterfinalist has lost two in two.
He first fell to Dominic Thiem in the second round there before losing to Grigor Dimitrov in the first round of the Monte-Carlo Masters.
The thing to be noted here is Shelton has shown he can hang in there on clay. Those matches haven’t turned out to be one-sided by any stretch and that is probably why he will give himself a bit of a chance here.
Especially against a player who has been struggling all his career on this surface.
McDonald v Shelton Prediction and Tip
While McDonald is a 5/6 favourite here, we think Shelton will forge ahead here and win this. He has the tenacity to take this deep and even push for a late win.
Tips:
- Low Risk Tip: Over 8.5 games in the first set: 2/7 (Click Here to Bet with bet365)
- Moderate Risk Tip: Shelton to win: 1/1 (Click Here to Bet with bet365)
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The 2023 ATP Barcelona Open will be played from April 17 to 23. You can get all the tennis betting news with our tennis betting blog here. Also get rest of the tennis match previews here.
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