Quarterfinal spots in Mallorca will be handed out on Wednesday, when Ben Shelton and Jakub Mensik take the court. Shelton kicks off his campaign against Rinky Hijikata, while Mensik meets Fabio Fognini.
(1) Ben Shelton vs. Rinky Hijikata
Shelton and Hijikata will be going head-to-head for the third time in their careers and for the first time on the main tour when they clash in round two of the Mallorca Championships on Wednesday. They faced each other twice at Challengers in 2022; Hijikata prevailed 6-3, 7-6(8) on an outdoor hard court in Orlando before Shelton got the job done 6-3, 6-4 indoors in Indianapolis.
This is Shelton’s first match of the week on the heels of an opening bye as the No. 1 seed. Unfortunately for the 14th-ranked American, aside from a recent clay-court title in Houston he has not been effective on any surface other than hard courts in the early stages of his career. Whereas Shelton is 2-5 lifetime on grass, Hijikata is an outstanding 19-12 on this surface. The 75th-ranked Australian advanced to the Queen’s Club quarterfinals as a qualifier and he opened in Mallorca with a 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 defeat of Luca Nardi. This is a great chance for Hijikata to pull off an upset and keep his momentum rolling on the lawns.
Pick: Hijikata in 3
Jakub Mensik vs. (WC) Fabio Fognini
The head-to-head story is pretty much the exact same for Mensik and Fognini, who have split two previous encounters but have never squared off in the main draw of a tour-level event. Fognini cruised 6-4, 6-2 on the red clay of the Zug Challenger last summer; one month later Mensik scored a 1-6, 6-1, 6-1 victory in U.S. Open qualifying.
Fast forward one year and Mensik has soared into relevancy on the ATP Tour while Fognini’s career appears to be coming to an end. The 18-year-old Czech has earned 11 of his 14 tour-level match wins this season and he ousted defending champion Chris Eubanks 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 on Tuesday in Mallorca. Fognini did well to defeat lucky loser Gijs Brouwer 7-6(4), 7-6(5) on Monday, but the 37-year-old Italian is struggling down at 97th in the rankings. Although Mensik is a novice on grass, he is the much better all-around player at this point and if he can beat Eubanks he should have little trouble with Fognini.
Pick: Mensik in 2
