Second-seeded Ben Shelton will begin his 2026 Dallas Open campaign with a first-round fixture against Gabriel Diallo. Shelton is coming on the back of his Australian Open campaign, whereas Diallo is coming into this event after having played Davis Cup for Canada.
Ben Shelton vs Gabriel Diallo Match Details
Date: Feb. 10, 2026
Tournament: Dallas Open 2026
Round: First Round (Round of 32)
Venue: Ford Center at Star, Frisco, Dallas
Surface: Indoor hard
Category: ATP 500
Live Telecast: Tennis Channel, TSN, RDS, Sky Sports
Shelton vs Diallo Head-to-Head
Shelton has a 1-0 head-to-head record against Diallo, winning the only match against the Canadian 6-3, 6-2 at Washington last year.
Shelton began his season at the ASB Classic, where he reached the quarterfinals after getting a bye and winning his match against Francisco Comesana, before eventually losing out to Sebastian Baez. The American once again showed that he loved playing on the big stage at the Australian Open, as he reached the quarterfinals with wins over Ugo Humbert, Dane Sweeney, Valentin Vacherot, and Casper Ruud, before losing out to Jannik Sinner in straight sets.
Diallo started 2026 with a second-round exit in Hong Kong, where he lost to Coleman Wong. The Canadian then had successive first-round losses at the Adelaide International and at the Australian Open, losing to the likes of Andrea Vavassori and Alexander Zverev. He was in action at the Davis Cup against Brazil, where he lost to Gustave Heide but beat Matheus Pucinelli de Almeida, helping Canada win the tie.
Shelton vs Diallo Prediction
As expected, with his strong serve, Shelton has won 89% of the service games this season, while having a 17% win rate in return games. He saved 69% of his break points on serve, while converting 34% of his break points. For Diallo, he has won 78% of the service games and 13% of the return games, while saving 45% of the break points on his serve.
As far as indoor hard court records go, both Shelton and Diallo have had one runner-up finish on the surface in their careers. Shelton reached the final of the 2024 Swiss Indoors, and Diallo reached the final of the 2024 Almaty Open, where they lost to Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard and Karen Khachanov, respectively. In Dallas, Shelton has the better record, reaching the semifinals in 2024 but losing to Tommy Paul, whereas Diallo has not gone past the first round at this event.
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Neither player has great return stats this year, so the first set might go to a tiebreaker, where Shelton’s clutch mentality will help the American. His head-to-head record against Diallo and his record in Dallas should be enough for him to win the upcoming match.
Pick- Shelton to win in straight sets