DALLAS — Ben Shelton cruised to a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Michael Mmoh behind a dominant serve Wednesday night, advancing to the quarterfinals of the Dallas Open.
The third-seeded American lost just three points on his serve while breaking Mmoh early in both sets.
No. 2 seed Tommy Paul of the U.S. played Japan’s Taro Daniel in the round of 16 later Wednesday night.
Shelton, who lost to Novak Djokovic in the semifinals of the US Open last year, went up 3-0 in the first set with a break of Mmoh.
The servers had won the first 18 points of the second set when Shelton won three in a row on Mmoh’s serve for a breakpoint before going on to break for a 3-2 lead.
Shelton broke Mohr again for a 5-3 lead before the hard-serving left-hander closed out the match at love.
It was Shelton’s first match of the week on the campus of SMU, while Mmoh had advanced with a first-round victory.
“I was pretty surprised with the level I played at today,” said Shelton, who is ranked 16th. “It’s always tough when you’re around a tournament site for almost a week and kind of sit around waiting for your match.”
Two seeded players lost in straight sets in early matches.
Fifth-seeded American Christopher Eubanks fell to Australia’s James Duckworth 7-6 (3), 6-4. Duckworth’s countryman, No. 6 seed Max Purcell, was a 6-4, 6-3 loser against Marcos Giron of the U.S.
Top-seeded Frances Tiafoe has his tournament opener Thursday night in the round of 16 against 19-year-old fellow American Alex Michelsen.
