Ben Shelton will meet Lorenzo Sonego in the First Round of the 2023 French Open. The match will be played on Sunday May 28th, 2023. 

Ben Shelton is ranked 35th in the world and is seeded for the first time at a Grand Slam event, at #30. The American has burst onto the scene and is a dynamic young talent, however most of his good results have come on the faster surfaces as he still seems to be learning the intracies of clay. Other than reaching the Semi-Finals of a Challenger in Italy, he had a miserable run on the clay this year, losing in the First Round of the three Masters-1000 events. His massive serve always keeps him in the match but he will find it difficult here against Lorenzo Sonego. 

Lorenzo Sonego is unseeded here at the 2023 Franch Open and is ranked 45th on the ATP Tour. The Italian is a better player than his ranking suggests, and is a very solid all-court player. Like his opponent Ben Shelton, he had a poor run of form on the clay so far, losing three consecutive matches before winning a pair in Rome. He will be unhappy at that and his confidence may be low, but despite his lower ranking should still be considered the favorite here against the youngster Shelton. 

I am a big fan of Ben Shelton and think he has a huge future, but he isn’t quite ready for this level on clay yet, and I expect him to struggle here. Lorenzo Sonego is as difficult of a First Round opponent that a seed could have hoped to pull, and Shelton will be cursing his luck here. I expect the American’s serve to keep it close in the beginning, but Sonego will eventually pull away and should win comfortably in the end here at the 2023 French Open.