Daily Tennis Tips – 5th April

American tyros Ben Shelton and Brandon Nakashima lock horns for the first time at senior level in the US Men’s Clay Court Championships quarter-finals.

World No.16 Shelton is the top seed but had some early trouble with Zizou Bergs in his Round of 16 assignment, before prevailing 3-6 6-4 6-3.

Nakashima, who is ranked 92nd after closing in on the top 40 less than 18 months ago, has disposed of Duje Ajdukovic and Rinky Hijikata by identical 6-1 6-4 scorelines so far in Houston.

Shelton is yet to replicate in 2024 the blistering form that took him to the US Open semis, putting together a modest 12-7 record this season. He was bundled out of the Miami Masters in the Round of 16 by Lorenzo Musetti.

Nakashima has spent most of the year so far playing (and winning) on the Challenger circuit. This week marks the first time he has won two matches at an ATP-level event since the Shanghai Masters in October.

Normally Shelton would be a runaway favourite in this match-up, but his clay record is not strong and he’s just $1.80 to account for Nakashima – who has been super impressive.

Top seed and defending champion Casper Ruud is a $1.25 favourite to put away Marton Fucsovics in the quarter-finals of the clay-court Estoril Open.

Eighth-ranked Ruud, the 2022-23 French Open runner-up, crushed Botic van de Zandschulp 6-1 6-2 in the previous round after getting a first-up bye.

Ruud has a solid 15-5 record this season – but all of his losses were to lower-ranked players. He went down to Alex de Minaur in the Mexican Open final, Tommy Paul in the Indian Wells quarters and Nicolas Jarry in the Round of 16 of the Miami Masters.

World No.85 Fucsovics has made his way past Pedro Cachin (7-5 6-2) and seventh seed Gael Monfils (1-6 6-1 7-5) this week. The 32-year-old Hungarian hasn’t had to many results of note in 2024; he beat Max Purcell in Miami before being halted by Daniil Medvedev.

Fucsovics double-bagelled Ruud in their only meeting to date – but that was back at a Budapest Challenger in 2017, when the Norwegian was a teenager. The last of his three wins over top-10 opposition was against Taylor Fritz in Stuttgart last year.

Ruud looks switched on go back-to-back in Portugal for what would be his 10th ATP title on clay.

Charleston Open fourth seed Daria Kasatkina takes on giant-killing Romanian Jaqueline Cristian in an intriguing quarter-final match-up.

Kasatkina battled past Ashlyn Krueger in the Round of 32, 6-3 0-6 6-1, before having an easier time of it against 15th seed Anehlina Kalinina 6-1 6-4 in the second round.

The world No.11 has been disappointing since losing the Abu Dhabi Open final to Elena Rybakina, going down to a string of lower-ranked players and failing to fully fire at the Sunshine Double.

Cristian, ranked 83rd, disposed of Sachia Vickery 6-1 6-4 in the first round, before carving out three-set victories over top-20 duo Madison Keys and Emma Navarro.

The 25-year-old is yet to appear at Roland Garros, but she has a decent clay record at ITF and Challenger level.

Kasatkina was a French Open and Rome Masters semi-finalist in 2022, while her maiden WTA title came at this tournament in 2017.

The pair’s only previous encounter was at the 2022 Qatar Open, with Cristian retiring when a set up. She’s a genuine chance at grabbing another big scalp here, but Kasatkina’s class on clay is hard to overlook.

It’s a high-profile match-up in the Charleston Open quarters as top seed Jessica Pegula takes on former world No.1 Victoria Azarenka.

Azarenka leads the head-to-head 3-2 after winning three of their last four clashes – including their most recent, a 6-4 6-1 drubbing in the 2023 Australian Open quarter-finals.

Coming off a quarter-final run at the Miami Masters, world No.5 Pegula came from behind to win a thriller against Amanda Anisimova 3-6 6-4 7-6 in her opening assignment in Charleston. The American looked more composed in a 6-2 6-2 defeat of Magda Linette in the Round of 16.

World No.26 Azarenka demolished Elisabetta Cocciaretto 6-1 6-2 before staging a fightback to beat Taylor Townsend 6-7 6-3 6-4. The 34-year-old made an impressive charge to the semis in Miami last week, continuing a strong start to the season.

Pegula made the French Open quarters and the Madrid Masters final in 2022 – the highlights of an otherwise modest clay CV. Azarenka reached the semis at Roland Garros back in 2013 and has appeared in seven WTA finals on the surface.

Another tough quarter-final to call in South Carolina, but Azarenka’s overall formline in 2024 has been more trustworthy.