Thirty-year-old Japanese player Taro Daniel provided the upset of the tournament so far when he bettered top seed Ben Shelton to advance to the final of the ASB Classic today.
Daniel reached just his second ATP Tour final with a 7-5 7-6 victory over Shelton, after an epic tiebreak wherehe prevailed 11-9 in front of a packed ASB Tennis Arena.
While Shelton was unable to get his timing on-song today, there was no doubting the accuracy of the Daniel serve and the precision with his ground strokes, with Shelton unable to break his serve.
Nothing separated the pair through to 5-5, with Sheldon missing an opportunity in the next game and then dropping his own serve for Daniel to claim the first set 7-5.
The second set was a slugfest, with Sheldon pushing to unleash his powerful serve, reaching around 230km/h, but he could not convert that into an advantage.
He was up 6-5 on the back of his best game but could not break the Daniel serve as they headed to the second-set tiebreak. There were chances for both, with Sheldon the more likely to succeed, but Daniel levelled and drew ahead 10-9, then Sheldon hit long, which gave the American-based Japanese player the victory.
“It is real relief. I kept myself in there and right now I am unsure what I am feeling but definitely happy to be in the finals,” said Daniel.
“It is a big win. Even though he wasn’t playing at his best, but to keep him there is a really important skill and that is going to be important in the coming years.
“There is a tendency to get really excited in those moments and anxious, so I told myself to keep doing what I have been doing. There’s a lot of energy from the crowd so there is a tendency to want to use that and hit a really big shot but you have to calm down.
“There’s such a nice vibe in centre-court. It was the first time I have played there yesterday – it is such a fun, relaxed and nice event. I was trying to get into Adelaide but saw I had a chance to get into the main draw here so I came and look where I am. It’s crazy.”
Daniel has won one ATP Tour title after winning on clay in Istanbul in 2018.
