Bet on a long match between Ben Shelton and J.C. Shang at the ATP Atlanta tournament

Ben Shelton’s performance in 2024 has shown the tennis world that he’s got some staying power.

After bursting onto the scene in 2023 with runs to the quarterfinals at the Australian Open and the semifinals at the U.S. Open, Shelton looked like he could have the potential to jump to the forefront of American tennis ahead of the likes of Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul and Frances Tiafoe.

For Shelton to make good on that potential, he’d need to back up his 2023 season -- which didn’t feature all that much success outside of the Grand Slams -- with a more consistent performance in 2024.

He’s done that by winning his second title and posting a 60% win rate through nearly 40 matches.

What’s more is that he should be entering the best part of the calendar for his skillset.

Shelton will look to win his second title of 2024 in Atlanta this week, but he’s got a tricky opponent on Thursday night in J.C. Shang.

Shang, 19, is on the verge of becoming a mainstay on the ATP Tour. The Beijing native started the 2024 season with a terrific run to the semifinals at Hong Kong, but hasn’t matched that success since. Shang has put together some decent results, including wins over Frances Tiafoe, Yoshi Nishioka, Miomir Kecmanovic and Mackenzie McDonald, but he’s still searching for another deep run at an ATP event.

He certainly has a chance to do that in Atlanta, but he’ll have to upset the No. 1 seed first.

Shang, like Shelton, seems to really enjoy playing on a hard court. The 19-year-old has posted a 22-13 record on the surface over the last 52 weeks and has won six of seven sets in Atlanta already. The quality of competition in the qualifiers and the Round of 32 have been wanting, but Shang’s victories were pretty emphatic.

Shelton can serve anybody off the court on any given night, but Shang looks on his way to establishing himself as a strong player on hard courts. This one could go long.

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