“The Mountain” Shelton recovers to beat Struff in sudden death in UTS Frankfurt

Ben Shelton showed off his UTS prowess as he recovered from a slow start to beat Jan-Lennard Struff in sudden death in his opening contest at UTS Frankfurt on Friday.

The Mountain was tested hard, though, before claiming a 15-16, 15-12, 17-13, 11-20, 2-0 victory.

“I want to apologise for taking out the home favourite here,” Shelton said. “I haven’t played this format for almost two years, so I hope to do even better tomorrow.”

Struff makes strong start

In front of his home crowd, German Struff led 15-13 with a couple of seconds remaining, but Shelton banged down a big serve to cut the deficit to one point. With no time left, looking to win the opening quarter on “quarter points”, the American then won the next point to level at 15-15 and force a deciding point.

With his big serve, Struff had the advantage and swung in a good serve that Shelton couldn’t return to take it 16-15.

Shelton bounces back in style

Shelton raced ahead in the second quarter, the big-hitting left-hander making a mockery of the one-serve rule, as was Struff, the German sending down plenty of big hits himself.

The Mountain was ahead all the way through the second quarter and though Struff got to within one point, he could not take advantage of his bonus card and Shelton held on to win 14-12, a big forehand denying The Thunder the chance to win on quarter points.

The Mountain begins to dominate

Cheered on by coach and father, Bryan Shelton, who was offering continual advice from his coaching position, Shelton began the third quarter in equally positive fashion, storming ahead 9-3 with four minutes remaining.

Shelton missed a serve at 10-4 and lost another point on serve to give the German hope but each time he looked like getting back in it, a couple of errors cost him dear. The lead became 13-6 with less than two minutes to go and Shelton grew in confidence, ripping forehands into the corners.

Struff’s last chance came when he tried to use his bonus card at 14-7 down but he netted the serve and Shelton cruised through the last minute to lead 16-9. He couldn’t win his bonus card but at 16-10, he was well in command as the clock hit zero. Struff won the first three points of “quarter points” but Shelton slashed an unstoppable forehand to win it 17-13.

Struff forces sudden death

Struff had other ideas, though, and the German raced ahead 8-3 in the fourth quarter thanks to a couple of stunning returns, while Shelton’s level dipped.

An 8-3 lead for Struff became 8-6 in a flash before Struff steadied the ship to lead 9-6. The German’s returns were so sharp that Shelton had no time to react and the American dumped his racket on the court a couple of times in frustration.

At 14-8 and a minute to go, Struff effectively closed the door with a serve and volley on his bonus card to pick up three points and the quarter ended 20-11.

Struff served first in the sudden death but missed his serve, off the tape, and Shelton then put away a smash to win it 2-0 and claim victory.

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