Felix Auger Aliassime vs Ben Shelton Prediction, Picks, Form, H2H, May 31st

Our second preview of the day from the French Open looks at the Felix Auger Aliassime vs Ben Shelton third-round tilt.  Jon Reid’s Auger Aliassime vs Shelton prediction at 1.62 odds is available below. 

Shelton’s win probability is a touch over 40%, while Auger Aliassime is favored to win at 1.62 odds. The handicap is 2.5 games and the total games line is 40.5.

Auger Aliassime vs Shelton Prediction: Tournament Over for Young American 

• Prediction: Auger Aliassime to win
• Best Odds: 1.62
• Bookmaker: Pinnacle
• Stakes: 2/10

Odds as at 1:15 am UK Time on May 31st, 2024. Odds may now differ.

I’m in no hurry to trust the top two Canadian men in one day often, but here we are.

Auger Aliassime isn’t the greatest clay courter to grace the men’s tour, but he’s still more competent on the surface than Shelton and he has far more experience in slow conditions as well.

Though the firebrand lefty that has burst onto the scene in the last year and a half has an incredibly explosive game, he lacks any kind of tactical awareness, point construction abilities or patience in certain spots.

As he’s been learning since he began starting to play in Europe on the red dirt, most of the time you can’t just hit your way through the surface and your opponents to win matches.

That’s a lesson I think Auger Aliassime has had to learn too, but in my book, he’s much further along in his clay court development. Throw in the fact that he has a booming serve and forehand combination himself and is taking on an overly aggressive returner that should help him find easy holds of serve, even on clay, and you’ve got me backing the rare 1.62 odds favorite to win the match. Our Auger Aliassime vs Shelton prediction is for Auger Aliassime to win.

Head on over to the expert insights page for more tennis previews.

Felix Auger Aliassime Recent Form

Going based solely on his record, the clay season has been a success for the 23-year-old, who desperately needed a run of form and some rankings points. One can only play whoever is on the other side of the net, but the fact is, it’s not like Auger Aliassime has had to do a whole lot to pick up his wins.

Two wins in Madrid came via retirement, he received a further walkover from Jannik Sinner and he needed three sets to beat Yoshihito Nishioka. Credit where it’s due, he played his best match in quite some time to beat Casper Ruud though.

Other than that? Not a whole lot of tough competition. This week he’s beaten Nishioka (again) and Henri Squire – a Challenger Tour player who was actually on the lower ITF circuit in 2023.

Now, Shelton is talented, but on this particular surface, I’d make the case that Auger Aliassime isn’t facing a world-beater this round either.

I do think he should get through this match far more often than not, but I will caution that if he does, not to overrate him moving forward as a result. We’ve still seen just the one strong clay win so far in the last few months.

Ben Shelton Recent Form

Since winning Houston (which I maintain is a quasi-hard court event because of the clay it’s played on and the players that enter the field), Shelton has been a mediocre player on the clay at best.

He has zero impressive wins, some losses to guys he shouldn’t struggle with if he wants to make strides playing on red clay and barely getting by an underpowered Hugo Gaston and aging Kei Nishikori who had to retire doesn’t exactly inspire confidence either.

Until he learns more patience and how to construct points more intelligently on clay, I’ll likely keep opposing him, regardless of his higher ranking – if anything that ranking is what is causing the overvaluation.

Auger Aliassime vs Shelton H2H – Stat of the Match

Despite Shelton now having been on tour for over a year, these two haven’t run into each other before this matchup on Friday.

Safer Gambling

At bettingexpert, we always take a safe approach to gambling. We’ll never bet more than we can afford or chase losses. For more advice, head to our Safer Gambling hub.