Estoril Open: Shelton vs Lestienne Tennis Prediction, Odds & Pick

TennisSection previews the 2023 Estoril Open first-round match featuring Ben Shelton vs Constant Lestienne on Tuesday, April 4, 2023.

Shelton vs Lestienne Match Preview

American youngster Ben Shelton plays his first clay-court match on the ATP stage at the 2023 Estoril Open. Will he prevail against France’s Constant Lestienne?

Ben Shelton has not played a match on the red clay on the Challenger Tour before. He’s taken a big leap in the past six months and finds himself in the thick of the action in the 2023 clay-court swing. Shelton’s rise has seen him play a host of ATP tournaments outside the United States and will now embark on another one in the Portuguese Riviera at the Estoril Open. Will he get his first win on the dirt against Constant Lestienne?

Constant Lestienne is a late bloomer on the ATP stage, which is in contrast to Ben Shelton’s success. The Frenchman is 30 now, and although he did a commendable job of getting into the ATP top 50 following years of slugging it out on the Challenger tour, he has been in bad form in recent weeks and picked up an injury in Indian Wells. Let’s see if he is fully recovered to take on the young American at the Estoril Open.

Shelton vs Lestienne Prediction and Pick

Ben Shelton and Constant Lestienne have not played each other on the ATP Tour. So Tuesday’s match at the Estoril Open will be their first official meeting. Lestienne is the more experienced of the two at least on clay. But that’s not to say Shelton cannot perform outside hard courts. He’s certainly got the craft and improvisation to take the game to the Frenchman. And there is still an injury cloud surrounding the fitness of Lestienne in this match, so this match could in its entirety be on Shelton’s racket.