Ben Shelton vs Dane Sweeny Tips, Prediction & Live Stream - Sweeny's dream run comes to an end

It's been a fairytale run for Sweeny, but it almost certainly comes to an end on Thursday inside John Cain Arena. The 24-year-old was ranked outside the top 600 midway through last season, but grinded away at Futures and Challenger level, picking up a handful of titles and propelling himself back inside the top 200. Coached by his father, who decided to give up his cleaning business in order to go full-time with Sweeny on the road, the Aussie successfully qualified for the main draw before winning his first Grand Slam match over veteran Gael Monfils in the first round. Shelton, by contrast, experienced a whirlwind rise into the top 10 and is already a two-time major semi-finalist after playing his first full season on tour in 2023.

Sweeny will run all day, get that extra ball back and compete until he's running on empty, but unfortunately I don't think that will be enough against a genuine top 10 player. Sweeny has that classic Aussie ticker, but he also lacks firepower and the ability to get cheap, free points off his serve. Shelton on the other hand has arguably the best all-round serve in tennis. The American can be prone for concentration lapses, but with a packed Aussie crowd cheering against him, I don't think he loses focus or motivation here. Backing Shelton in straights with Under 33.5 total games.

Shelton has put together a rapid rise into the world's top 10 and has repeatedly proven he saves his best tennis for the big stage, making two major semi-finals at the Australian and US Opens, along with a quarter-final at Wimbledon.

The 23-year-old also secured his maiden Masters 1000 title in Canada last year, entering his home slam at the US Open as a genuine contender for the title behind Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.

However, disaster struck and Shelton suffered a left shoulder injury during his third round clash and was forced to retire.

Shelton returned for the Asian and European indoor swing, but he couldn't get back to his best form, making the Paris Masters quarter-finals before bowing out of his debut ATP Finals appearance with a 0-3 record.

The American delayed his start to this season, beginning in Auckland, where he went down in the quarter-finals to Sebastian Baez. Shelton was dealt one of the toughest opening round draws in Melbourne, but he locked in and produced a brilliant performance, defeating Ugo Humbert - who had just made the Adelaide final - 6-3 7-6 7-6.

When you look at those numbers, it's obvious that Sweeny has barely featured on the main tour so far in his career, but he did A LOT of winning last year to salvage a ranking that had dropped close to 700 in the world.

Indeed, Sweeny registered a 73-25 record at all levels last year, picking up several Futures titles and also reaching the Playford Challenger final at the end of the season.

Those match wins and titles propelled Sweeny back into the world's top 200 - and after his Australian Open exploits over the last week, he could potentially crack the top 150 by the end of the tournament.

Sweeny came through qualifying with wins over Andrea Pellegrino, Jerome Kym and Stefano Travlagia before completing his dream of winning a Grand Slam main draw match, conquering French veteran Gael Monfils in four sets in front of a packed Kia Arena crowd in the first round.

The 24-year-old recovered from a set and a break down to come back for a 6-7 7-5 6-3 7-5 victory, setting up his first ever meeting with a top 10 player in the second round.

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