Ben Shelton – Jaume Munar 10-05-2025

Power meets endurance on the gravel in Rome

Saturday's second round match at the ATP Rome features an exciting encounter between the powerful American Ben Shelton and the clay-court strong Spaniard Jaume Munar. Both players have shown varying forms on clay this season, and the match is expected to be a tactical duel between two different styles. This is also a classic matchup between an offensive player who thrives on pace and serve pressure, against a clay-court specialist who builds points patiently and rarely gives away free points.

Ben Shelton

The 22-year-old American, now ranked 13th in the world, has been a breath of fresh air on the ATP Tour since his breakthrough in 2023. With his explosive playing style, he has had several big performances over the past year. On hardcourts and faster surfaces, he can be extremely difficult to play against, but on clay he is still developing.

He started the clay court season strongly by reaching the final of the ATP Munich, where he beat players such as Luciano Darderi and Francisco Cerúndolo before losing the final to Alexander Zverev with a clear 2–6, 4–6.

In Monte Carlo, Shelton opened strongly with a first set tiebreak win against Fokina, but then collapsed 2–6, 1–6 in the next two sets. In Madrid, he reached the third round after a win over Navone, but was completely outplayed by Jakub Menšík in two sets after that (1–6, 4–6).

His strengths lie in his serve and first shot after serve, but he still has challenges with movement and rhythm on clay. When he is allowed to control the points, he looks dangerous, but he becomes far more vulnerable in long rallies and on poor ball positions.

Shelton is less comfortable in slow play. He likes to dictate, serve his way out of trouble, and decide quickly. On the clay in Rome, he gets fewer free points, and it will be exciting to see how he handles an opponent who rarely lets himself get stressed and lose his rhythm.

Jaume Munar

The 28-year-old Spaniard is the complete opposite. Munar is a typical clay court player – he returns consistently, is strong defensively and forces his opponent to hit four or five extra balls to win points. Although he doesn't have the best results in Masters tournaments, he has always been difficult to hit on clay, especially against players who are not comfortable on the surface.

Munar won in the first round against Barrios Vera after a solid comeback and now has an 8-7 record on clay this season. In addition, he has already beaten Shelton once in 2025, that happened on hard court in Dallas, where he won 6-2, 7-6(3). The fact that he was able to pressure Shelton on a faster surface says something about the matchup.

The Spaniard takes his time, there are few quick points from him, but he has an extreme ability to make the matches long and physically demanding. This does not suit Shelton, who often loses rhythm in long duels.

Previous meetings and match photos

The two players have met twice before, and the head-to-head record is 1–1. They last met in Dallas, where Munar controlled the tactically. On clay it will be even clearer who has the upper hand in the rallies, the only question is whether Munar can withstand Shelton's serve and offensive moves.

In many of Shelton's losses on clay, he has struggled to maintain his energy through two sets, making the match vulnerable to changes of pace and opening up tiebreaks or a potential third set.

Serve cannon vs. clay specialist: Will it be a battle that never ends?

This match smells of a long duel and close sets. Shelton has played over 22.5 games in 6 of his last 8 matches on clay, and Munar tends to make the matches physically tough, even against better players. We have already seen a tiebreak between them in 2025, and on clay there is an even greater likelihood of a match consisting of several games. We therefore land on this as our main bet;

ATP Rome at 17:00: Ben Shelton – Jaume Munar: Over 22.5 games (1.80)

Alternative games:

ATP Rome at 17:00: Ben Shelton – Jaume Munar: Over 2.5 sets (2.30)

ATP Rome at 17:00: Ben Shelton – Jaume Munar: Munar +3.5 games (1.74)