Ben Shelton vs Aleksandar Kovacevic Preview & Prediction | 2026 Swiss Indoors | First Round

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Ben Shelton comes to Basel as the number one seed, and the talented 24-year-old American kicks off his campaign against Aleksandar Kovacevic.

Ranking points: ATP 500

Start date/time: 27 October 2026 at 5:00 pm

Venue: St. Jakobshalle, Basel, Switzerland

Surface: Indoor hard

How to watch on TV: UK – Sky Sports Tennis / USA – Tennis Channel

How to watch online: UK – Sky Go / USA – Tennis Channel

Tickets: Visit this link for the latest Ben Shelton vs Aleksandar Kovacevic ticket information

Ben Shelton vs Aleksandar Kovacevic prediction

Ben Shelton returns to Basel, where he finished runner-up in 2024, and the world number four will be eager to put on a good showing this week.

After going all the way to the final at the US Open, Shelton has been somewhat inactive by his standards and managed only a solitary win in Shanghai heading into this tournament.

That does not mean a great deal, as he will be fired up to do well this week, and he will be confident of getting off to a winning start against Aleksandar Kovacevic.

His American counterpart took part in qualifying over the weekend and was eliminated by Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in straight sets, before receiving a lucky loser spot due to a series of withdrawals.

Kovacevic will have to lift his game to take on another big server in Shelton, and it is a mammoth task on paper. The pair met plenty of times on the Challenger Tour back in 2021 and 2022, with Shelton edging their five matches 3-2, but Shelton has kicked on a long way since then.

We fully expect him to be motivated and focused this week, and he should ease to a comfortable straight-sets win here.

Ben Shelton vs Aleksandar Kovacevic tip: Ben Shelton to win 2-0