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LONDON — Ben Shelton wasted a match point in the fifth-set tiebreaker against qualifier Otto Virtanen at Wimbledon in what the fourth-seeded American called "one of the toughest losses of my career."
Shelton was eliminated 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (8), 6-2, 7-6 (9) on Tuesday, losing in the first round at the grass-court Grand Slam for the first time in his young career.
The 23-year-old Shelton led 8-5 in the deciding 10-point tiebreaker against his 140th-ranked opponent and had match point at 9-8 but made an unforced error and then lost the next two points.
"I thought I put myself in a great position to win at the end. He came up with the goods," said Shelton, who reached the quarterfinals last year at the All England Club.
The left-handed American said he "wasn't getting many free points."
"The way that he was playing, hitting the ball, it definitely forced my hand. He's playing aggressive," Shelton said. "He wasn't really making any mistakes. Towards the end, any ball I left semi-hanging, he was ripping a winner, especially in that last game before the tiebreak.
"In the tiebreak," he continued, "I was trying to get to the net as much as I could, try to really rush him and not allow him to swing away from the baseline."
The 25-year-old Virtanen came through the qualifying tournament and earned the biggest win of his career in eliminating Shelton, who is ranked No. 5.
"I had a great month. I played a lot of grass matches," Virtanen said in his on-court interview after 4 hours, 21 minutes on No. 2 Court.
He reached the second round in his Wimbledon debut in 2024 and missed last year's tournament.
Shelton said he'll try not to dwell on the defeat.
"I'm usually the type of person that gets back on the court or in the gym the next day. This is definitely one of the toughest losses of my career, coming here at Wimbledon. First time I've lost in the first round here," he said. "I didn't even think I played a poor match today. Things just didn't go my way. ... I'll be right back on the practice courts in a couple days."
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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
