Aug 24, 2025; Flushing, NY, USA; Ben Shelton (USA) hits to Ignacio Buse (PER) on day one of the 2025 U.S. Open tennis tournament at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

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Ben Shelton vs. Pablo Carreno Busta Head-to-Head, Prediction and Betting Odds for US Open 2025 Round-2

Winner to face Thompson or Mannarino in Round-3.

Aug 24, 2025; Flushing, NY, USA; Ben Shelton (USA) hits to Ignacio Buse (PER) on day one of the 2025 U.S. Open tennis tournament at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

After making his presence felt in Round-1, American title hope Ben Shelton returns to entertain the New York crowd on Wednesday. The 22-year-old faces former Olympic bronze medalist Pablo Carreno Busta in the 2025 US Open Round of 64 on Louis Armstrong Stadium. Shelton is a former semifinalist, and will be keen on going two steps further this year. Can he accomplish the feat? Continue reading to find out all you need to know about the contest (including the betting odds via BetMGM).

Ben Shelton vs Pablo Carreno Busta Match Preview

World No. 6 Ben Shelton is perhaps in the best phase of his young career so far. The American had reached the QFs or better at his last four events, including Wimbledon. He won the prestigious Canadian Open Masters-1000 crown in the beginning of August, marking an eventual catapult to his career-best ranking. His other noteworthy performances include reaching the final in Munich, as well as semifinals at the Australian Open and BOSS Open. The No. 6 seed comes into this match on the back of a 36-17 record in 2025.

"My girlfriend took the red-eye from California last night to be here."

Ben Shelton shouts out Trinity Rodman for making his US Open match less than 24 hours after her NWSL game ❤️ pic.twitter.com/NuFneJYbGL
— ESPN (@espn) August 24, 2025

A bronze medalist at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Pablo Carreno Busta is a former Top-10 player on tour. Unlike what many would think, he is among the more tricky Round-2 opponents for a seeded player to encounter. In 2025, PCB has attained 7 wins and 11 losses on the professional circuit. Failing to get past the Second Round at the majors so far, the US Open presents a titanic opportunity for the 34-year-old Spaniard. He wins 70% service games and 28.5% return games on hard courts.

Comeback complete 💪

Former Champ Pablo Carreno Busta fights back to beat the highly impressive Liam Draxl 2-6 6-4 6-4 💪#NBO25 pic.twitter.com/pRd5l1kaZX
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) July 29, 2025

Ben Shelton vs Pablo Carreno Busta Head to Head Record

Ben Shelton leads the head-to-head against Pablo Carreno Busta by 1-0. They faced each other at the 2025 Australian Open.

Having stood across the net in the first Grand Slam of the year, it was far from smooth sailing for the southpaw. After winning the first two sets, the Spanish veteran took Shelton by surprise with a flurry of baseline attacks. However, the American No. 2 roared back to defeat Carreno Busta in four sets. Wednesday presents the ideal platform for the two-time US Open semifinalist to exact revenge.

Event	Round	Winner	Score
2025 Australian Open	Round of 64	Ben Shelton	6-3 6-3 6-7(4) 6-4

Ben Shelton vs Pablo Carreno Bust Career Comparison

Ben Shelton	Category	Pablo Carreno Busta
6	Current Ranking	137
107-70	Career W-L Record	283-231
36-17	YTD W-L Record	7-11
3	Career Titles	7
1	YTD Titles	0
0	Grand Slams	0

Ben Shelton vs Pablo Carreno Busta US Open 2025 Prediction

Shelton managed to conserve sufficient energy in his Round-1 battle, and didn’t need to go full throttle. On Wednesday however, the American might need to take it up a notch and increase his intensity. Carreno Busta has a compact style of play, characterized by his knack of painting the lines under pressure. Although his erratic return of serve means that his break point conversion rate is low, he has the ability to apply pressure on the Shelton serve and rally against the crowd.

Prediction: Ben Shelton in four sets.

Ben Shelton vs Pablo Carreno Busta US Open 2025 Betting Odds

Shelton is the favourite and Carreno Busta is the underdog in this US Open 2025 Round of 64 battle. According to the implied probability on the money line, Shelton has a 90% chance of advancing to the next stage. Take a look at the favourable odds (as per BetMGM):

Ben Shelton Win: 1/10
Pablo Carreno Busta Win: 13/2

Total Games <34.5: 17/20
Total Sets >3.5: Evens
Shelton -2.5 (Set Handicap): 22/25
Carreno Busta to Win 1 Set (Yes): 22/25
Total Number of Tiebreaks >0.5: 4/5
Shelton to Win Set-1 By 6-3: 41/20

(According to BetMGM: BetMGM offers exclusive promo codes, bonus deals and accurate odds for users upon signing up. Use BetMGM to ace your betting game in all sports!)

(Image Credits: Robert Deutsch, Imagn Images)

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Ben Shelton

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US Open 2025

Sankalp Harikrishnan

A passionate sports fan through and through, I am currently pursuing my MA in Global Sports Journalism. I specialise in tennis and football writing at The Playoffs News, and I have prior experience working at EssentiallySports and Sportskeeda. Born and raised in Bengaluru, India, sport was my safe space right from my childhood. After trying my hand at multiple sports and representing my educational institutions in cricket, badminton and table tennis, I found sports media to be my calling.