Prizmic Stuns Shelton In Madrid: First Career Top 10 Win

Dino Prizmic defeated Ben Shelton 6-4, 6-7(4), 7-6(5) in three hours at the Mutua Madrid Open, eliminating the No. 4 seed in the second round and claiming his first career win over a Top 10 player.

The Croatian, who turned twenty in August, was born in Split on August 5, 2005, and reached his career-high ranking of No. 87 on April 13, just eleven days before this match. Having entered the Madrid main draw through qualifying, he had beaten Matteo Berrettini 6-3, 6-4 in the first round. Prizmic is not a new name for those who follow the tour: in 2023 he won the junior Roland Garros, and in 2024 he made his Slam debut at the Australian Open, taking Novak Djokovic to the longest first-round match of his career at a Major, saving six match points before falling in four sets.

Shelton came to Madrid as world No. 6, riding a five-match winning streak after his title in Munich. Prizmic opened by taking the first set 6-4, was then pegged back in the second-set tiebreak, and closed the match in the deciding third-set tiebreak, 7-5. Shelton tried to force the issue with forty-four winners, but paid for them with forty-four unforced errors.

What stands out is the Croatian's ability to never waver in the key moments of such a long match against a player who arrived in Madrid as a favorite. With this win, Prizmic reaches the third round of a Masters 1000 for the first time and climbs to No. 77 in the live ranking.