Shelton returns with a clear defeat after his US Open final

The hangover from reaching your first Grand Slam final is not easy to handle for many. For Ben Shelton, it has not been simple at all, especially facing a transcontinental journey and a tough opponent like Jiri Lehecka in his first match after the greatest success of his career. The American has decided to lead the Davis Cup team in the challenging task of traveling to the Czech Republic, and his return to the circuit has not been as he expected.

A clear and convincing defeat against Jiri Lehecka, who played as the team's number two with the calmness of a number one: double 6-4 to electrify the crowd at Prague's O2 Arena, where finals of this competition have taken place. Greater speed, agility, and, in short, freshness against a Shelton who could not neutralize the bombs from the Central European, who aims to bring the Czech Republic back to the Bologna Finals.

Lehecka repaired Mensik's fall against Tien

But this tie has thrilling matches everywhere, like the one that kicked off the series. Indeed, the identical result with different flags: it was the United States who clearly dealt the first blow. This was done with the help of Learner Tien, who also sacrificed his ranking and rest to play in this legendary competition, mentally defeating Jakub Mensik again, who had already lost to the American in the third round of the last US Open.

The result (6-2, 6-4) leaves no room for doubt: Learner was far superior to the Czech, who could not find the desired percentages with his serve and faced a wall that redirected relentlessly. Thus, the tie heads into Saturday with everything to decide: the doubles will kick off the action and might surprise us... or Bob Bryan will decide to bet on Shelton and Tien solely for the singles. Everything is yet to be decided.

This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Shelton regresa con una clara derrota tras su final del US Open