Ben Shelton vs Rinky Hijikata Prediction & Betting Tips - ATP Mallorca Open

Prediction published on 25/06/2024, 07:03  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 25/06/2024 at 08:24 in Tennis Predictions

Ben Shelton is the top seed in the Mallorca Open and takes on unseeded Rinky Hijikata in round two. The American received a bye into the second round of this grass court tournament. For the winner, their quarter-final opponent will be a qualifier, either Paul Jubb or Adam Walton. Shelton is the world number 14 but would greatly appreciate a deep run in Mallorca this week. Two grass court events have been played by him this year and both saw him lose in his first match to a player ranked outside the top 60. Only one set was won by Shelton in those two matches. That's taken his record to 2-5 on grass and his one appearance at Wimbledon last year saw him beaten in round two. He'll be looking for some improvement this week.

Rinky Hijikata is at 74th in the live rankings and that's only four places below the career-high he set last October. The Australian will be looking to build on the run he had at Queen's Club last week. He made it to the last eight and led Sebastian Korda before losing the next two played. Last year saw him go well in grass court Challenger Tour events and on the ATP Tour, he got to the semi-finals of the Libema Open. Round one of this year's Mallorca Open saw him get past Luca Nardi winning in three sets with the middle one being lost. Next week will see him play in the main draw at Wimbledon for the first time. We tip Hijikata to at least win a set in this match.