Alexander Zverev vs Ben Shelton Prediction 8/15/2025 Today’s Tennis Picks

Third seed Alexander Zverev will face fifth seed Ben Shelton in a massive quarterfinal match at the 2025 Cincinnati Open. The match is scheduled for Friday, August 15. Here’s our Alexander Zverev vs Ben Shelton prediction. This preview will also include an Alexander Zverev vs Ben Shelton pick.

Alexander Zverev vs Ben Shelton Preview

Alexander Zverev earned a retirement win over Toronto finalist Karen Khachanov in their rematch. The German won a tight first set 7-5, breaking Khchanov for a second time and decisively in the 11th game before serving to 15 in the next game. It was unlike Khachanov, who dropped his serve in the first three games of the second set before retiring from the match with an injury. Zverev finished the match with five aces to one double fault. Zverev lost only five points behind his first serve in the match.

Before this, Zverev had defeated Nishesh Basavareddy 6-3, 6-3, and then followed it up with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Brandon Nakashima. The third seed is yet to drop a set in the tournament. He has at least reached the semifinals in each of the last two seasons in Cincinnati and won the title back in 2021. Zverev improves to 18-5 on hard courts this year and is chasing a second successive semifinal this swing, after reaching that stage in Toronto over a week ago.

Ben Shelton is the hottest player on tour right now after the American bagged his first-ever Masters 1000 title in Canada. Shelton extended that winning streak in Cincinnati, which was his breakout tournament on the main tour a few seasons ago. He earned a retirement win over Ugo Carabelli in his first match of the week before ousting Roberto Bautista Agut 7-6, 6-3 in the next round.

Shelton’s best win so far was in the last 16, where he took out the Czech Republic’s Jiri Lehecka 6-4, 6-4, with the match lasting under two hours. Shetlon hit 20 winners and 17 unforced errors, and that included eight aces and two double faults. Shelton landed 63% of first serves in play and won 81% of first serve points (26/32). He won 63% of second serve points (12/19) and only faced one break point in the match. Shelton is undefeated in his last nine matches and has won 12 of his last 13 matches this swing, with his only loss coming in the semifinal of Washington to Davidovich Fokina.

Alexander Zverev vs Ben Shelton Head-To-Head

Zverev and Shelton have met three times on tour, and it is the German who holds a 3-0 winning lead. Two meetings happened this season in Zverev’s home country and Zverev was triumphant in both matches in Munich and Stuttgart.

Alexander Zverev vs Ben Shelton Prediction

I’ve got to go with the ATP’s in-form man this swing, and it is Ben Shelton. Zverev has a commanding 3-0 lead in the H2H, but Shelton was only one tiebreak away from defeating him in their very first meeting in this tournament last year. And Shelton is virtually unbreakable on these fast courts, making this one tilt slightly in his favor.