Ben Shelton reacts during a third round match against Francisco Cerundolo at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif., on Sunday, March 10, 2024.

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Ben Shelton vs. Francisco Cerundolo Head to Head Record, Preview and Prediction for ATP BMW Open Munich 2025 Semifinal

Winner to face either Zverev or Marozsan in the final.

Ben Shelton reacts during a third round match against Francisco Cerundolo at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif., on Sunday, March 10, 2024.

When an enormous serving machine like Ben Shelton comes face-to-face with a clay court savant such as Francisco Cerundolo, all hell will break loose. At the 2025 BMW Open in Munich, the American battles the Argentine for a spot in the grand final on Sunday. Can No. 2 seed Shelton continue to prove his mettle on the iconic German red dirt? The winner will face either Alexander Zverev or Fabian Marozsan in the final.

For Ben Shelton, the arrival of the clay court season is possibly a bitter-sweet feeling – while the 22-year-old has already made a doubles quarterfinal and singles semifinal, it isn’t his preferred surface. Nonetheless, he has won nearly 77% service games on clay. Shelton lost 7-6(2) 2-6 1-6 in the Round of 64 in Monte Carlo, to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. He has beaten Gojo, Van de Zandschulp and Darderi to reach the semis in Munich.

World No. 22 Francisco Cerundolo slides into his clay court campaigns just like he does on court – ultra smooth. The 26-year-old thrashed Fabio Fognini at the Principality, before suffering a narrow loss to eventual winner Carlos Alcaraz. Cerundolo dropped just two games in his opening round against defending champion Struff here in Munich. With a 9-4 record on clay this year, his wins against Shevchenko and Goffin without dropping a set are unsurprising.

Ben Shelton vs Francisco Cerdundolo Head to Head Record

Ben Shelton leads the head to head against Francisco Cerundolo 1-0. Their one and only meeting was at the 2024 Indian Wells Masters.

Saturday’s semifinal meeting will be the first time Shelton and Cerundolo lock horns on clay. They have contrasting game styles – while the American likes to keep the rallies short and power through with his flat forehand, Cerundolo mixes things up. Having met in the Indian Wells Round of 32 last year, southpaw Shelton huffed and puffed to a thrilling win.

Event	Round	Winner	Score
2024 Indian Wells	Round of 32	Ben Shelton	7-6(5) 3-6 7-6(5)

Ben Shelton vs Francisco Cerundolo Titles Comparison

Ben Shelton	Category	Francisco Cerundolo
0	Grand Slams	0
2	ATP Singles Titles	3
0	ATP Doubles Titles	0
0	Masters-1000 Titles	0
1	ATP-500 Titles	0
–	Olympics Best Performance	R3 (Paris 2024)
No. 15	Current World Ranking	No. 22

Ben Shelton vs Francisco Cerundolo BMW Open Munich 2025 Prediction

Francisco Cerúndolo is now up to

• No. 11 in the ATP Race to Turin
• No. 21 in the ATP Live Rankings pic.twitter.com/2LJn1bsRwB
— Mario Boccardi (@boccardi_marioo) April 18, 2025

Ben Shelton will come out firing from the very first point, looking to upset the rhythm of Cerundolo. However, the Argentine can play the waiting game and ease into the encounter. He is likely to resort to some drop shots, as well as targeted top spins to the Shelton backhand. Whether or not he can neutralise the leftie’s heavy kick serve consistently enough, will determine the result of this clash.

Prediction: Francisco Cerundolo in three sets.

Ben Shelton vs Francisco Cerundolo BMW Open Munich 2025 Betting Odds

Ben Shelton Win: 9/4

Francisco Cerundolo Win: 1/3

Alexander Zverev

ATP

ATP 500

Ben Shelton

Betting

BMW Open

Fabian Marozsan

Francisco Cerundolo

Tennis

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.