In the second set, his characteristic kick serve to the backhand gave the American the set. Without dropping his level at the start of the next set, Shelton managed to break in his first service game with a parallel drive down the line. Two games later, one of the best points of the night occurred, with a long rally in which Comesaña was in an offensive position but couldn't close out the point until the American counter-attacked with another parallel forehand that landed on the line. Nevertheless, 'Comes' managed to hold his serve and cut a streak of five consecutive lost games. The match was back on even terms, with no break points until the end of the contest. While the first was due to a good serve from his opponent and the second to an uncomfortable return that hit the net cord but didn't go over, the third set point wasted was with a running backhand while approaching the net, with the opponent out of position, which went long. Thus, Shelton was able to take advantage of a certain lack of coolness from the Argentine, who made some errors in the following game, and needed only one chance to break with a good volley. In the tenth game, an wide serve was followed by a good cross-court drive, which sealed the match in favor of the top title contender. Buenos Aires, January 13 (NA) -- Argentine tennis player Tomas Etcheverry suffered an early elimination at the ATP 250 in Auckland, where he was defeated in the first round by Portuguese Nuno Borges, the eighth seed of the tournament. Despite putting up a fight, Etcheverry lost in a tight match by 7-5, 3-6 and 7-6(2), in a match that lasted almost two and a half hours. This was the second consecutive defeat for Etcheverry, who came off a loss in three sets to Italian Lorenzo Musetti in the second round of the ATP 250 in Hong Kong. Furthermore, as learned by the Argentine News Agency, Argentine Francisco Comesaña (68th) was defeated in the quarterfinals by the top seed Ben Shelton (8th), while Sebastian Baez faces American Jenson Brooksby (48th). Although he had both rivals on the ropes, Etcheverry once again failed his nerve at the decisive moment of the match, a problem that has plagued him much of his career and in which he must improve if he wants to get close to the top 30, a place where he has more than enough level to be present. Borges, for his part, managed to secure a ticket to the quarterfinals, where he will face American Eliot Spizzirri, who had a very good performance to eliminate Frenchman Adrian Mannarino. The first set between Comesaña and Shelton was marked by equality. While the Argentine started firmly, despite some late hits due to poor timing on fast balls, the world's eighth-best player started with errors, surprising by leaving easy balls in the net for a player of his stature. Additionally, the 23-year-old player born in the city of Atlanta not only played relying on his power and ball speed, which make him one of the most dangerous and offensive players on the circuit, but he also made much more use of the slice and the approach to the net. The Marplatense had a series of set points in the tenth game, specifically three, although he could not take advantage of them.
