Ben Shelton vs Daniel Taro Prediction: Difficult but not totally impossible!!

After a successful round of a quarter Final matches, two players to have made it to the semifinals are Ben Shelton and Daniel Taro. Ben Shelton secured his spot with a win over Spanish player Roberto Carballes Baena, while Daniel Taro defeated Alexander Muller in the previous round.

Both players competed against each other twice last year and Shelton had the victory on both occasions. But it's a new game, a new city and a new challenge and only 1 of these 2 players will be able to progress into the final.

Ben Shelton's win over Roberto Carballes Baena was written in the stars and the American player put in a very confident performance to see off his opponent in straight sets. The game ended in 2 sets by 6:4,6:3 and it's little surprise that Shelton had made it this far.

His game stats against Roberto Carballes Baena were recorded as: 7 aces, 1 double fault, 31/42 first serve points, 15/29 second serve points, 7/8 break points saved, 3 break points converted and a total of 68 points.

Ben Shelton now looks ahead of the semifinal against a familiar opponent. An opponent he has beaten twice last year, 1 win each on grass and hard-court surface. Their first game was at the ATP Wimbledon last year and it was decided in 5 sets. And Ben Shelton won the game 3:2 at the end. The second encounter was ATP Japan round of 32 and Ben Shelton won in 3 sets. Ben Shelton has the records behind him but that's never enough for a fresh challenge.

Daniel Taro has one objective in mind as he approaches this semi final match and that is to win against Ben Shelton at all cost. He was able to match the American in both previous meetings, but in the end he lost both games.

Daniel Taro had Alexander Muller in a clutch in the last game and it was no surprise that he won in the end. The game ended by a 4:6,7:6,3:6 scoreline. His game stats were: 9 aces, 5 double faults, 48/66 first serve points, 23/45 second serve points, 8/10 break points saved, 4 break points converted and a total of 108 points.

It's now 3 wins in 3 matches for Daniel Taro and he's playing with a lot of confidence at the moment.

Daniel Taro played against Ben Shelton for the very first time at the ATP Wimbledon round of 128 last year and he lost. Then the second meeting was ATP Tokyo round of 32 and he also lost that game.

This will be their third meeting and Daniel Taro is hoping he can break the jinx.

Both players played against each other twice. The first time was at the ATP Wimbledon in July 2023 and Ben Shelton won in 5 sets (6:3,3:6,4:6,6:3). The second meeting was at the ATP Tokyo Japan in October 2023 and Ben Shelton won once again in 3 sets (3:6,6:4,7:6).

• Sets Handicap 2 (+1.5) at 1.773 Odds
• Daniel Taro Win (+4.5) Handicap at 1.60 Odds
• Total Sets 3 at 2.37 Odds