A young fan of Tomas Martin Etcheverry received a headband from Ben Shelton after the second-round clash at the 2024 Cincinnati Open. The youngster, however, could not hide his disappointment at the Argentine’s loss.
On Thursday, August 15, Shelton faced Etcheverry in the second round in Cincinnati. After losing the first set, Shelton had a comfortable lead in the second set tiebreaker but the American gave that up and was down by a match point. The Argentine could not convert and eventually lost 7-6(6), 6-7(7), 3-6.
After the match, Shelton found a young fan in the crowd at the Lindner Family Tennis Center. The American had a conversation with the fan who seemed disappointed with the result of the match. The 12th seed gifted him his headband and the young fan appreciated the gesture. Watch the video of the interaction below:
Interestingly, the same young fan had received a gift from another player during the day. Following Yoshihito Nishioka’s apparent meltdown against Hubert Hurkacz in the second-round clash, the Pole won in three sets. Afterward, Hurkacz gifted his racket to the same young fan who received Shelton’s headband.
Ben Shelton in good spirits after Cincinnati Open 2R win over Tomas Martin Etcheverry
Ben Shelton won a highly contested match against Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the second round of the 2024 Cincinnati Open. After a hard-fought first set went into the tiebreaker, Shelton could not convert his set points, and the Argentinian pounced to win the set.
The second set also went into a tiebreaker and Shelton had three set points when he had a 6-3 lead. However, Etcheverry managed to turn it around and had a match point at 7-6 but the American won three points in a row to bag the set. In the decider, Shelton earned a break to make it 5-3 and served to win the match.
In a post-match interview, the 21-year-old said:
“This was a difficult match for me because I started so hot. So to lose that first set after the way that I was playing, multiple set points, up a break… Then I had huge chances in the second that I ended up coming through on. Kind of just had to battle it out and stay there. I ended up squeaking out the second set and rolling in the third.”
“These are the types of wins that really propel you. The ones where you are tested, back against the wall and you come through in the big moments. That’s what’s really important to me about this one,” Ben Shelton added.
