WATCH: Francisco Cerundolo displays exceptional sportsmanship against Ben Shelton, calls self-hindrance during Indian Wells 2R

Argentine tennis star Francisco Cerundolo showed sportsman spirit during his second-round match against Ben Shelton at the 2024 BNP Paribas Open on March 10.

Cerundolo was seeded No. 22 at the year's first ATP 1000 tournament and began his campaign winning against Alexander Shevchenko, who had to retire mid-way through the opening round match.

Cerundolo came up against No.16 seed Shelton in his second match at the tournament. At 2-2 15-15, Cerundolo thought that his return of the Shelton serve landed wide and grunted loudly. However, the ball landed in, and the American returned the ball.

The Argentine let the return go, and at that point, the chair umpire, Fergus Murphy, called it a hindrance, thinking Cerundolo had said something during the point. Shelton was surprised by the umpire's call as he felt that Cerundolo had just grunted loudly.

“I thought it was a grunt, you got away with it,” Shelton said.

Cerundolo did not contest the hindrance call and continued with the game.

Both men fought a valiant battle, but Ben Shelton came out on top courtesy of two tiebreakers. The American won the first set tiebreaker, but Cerundolo kept the match interesting by picking up the second set. In a repeat of the first set, Shelton outfoxed the Argentine in another tiebreaker to seal the win, 7-6 (5), 3-6, 7-6 (5).

Ben Shelton to face Jannik Sinner in his maiden Indian Wells Masters 4R

Ben Shelton

Ben Shelton has come on top of two tough battles at the 2024 BNP Paribas Open and will face reigning Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner in his maiden fourth-round match at the tournament. After a first-round bye, Shelton came back from a set down to oust Czech prodigy Jakub Mensik, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, and was tested by Cerundolo in the third round.

The 21-year-old will face Jannik Sinner, who is in red-hot form and remains undefeated in 2024. The No. 3 faced little trouble in downing Thanasi Kokkinakis and Jan-Lennard Struff in his two matches so far in the Californian desert. The Italian came to Indian Wells after following up his triumph at the Australian Open with a title at the ATP 500 ABN AMRO Open in Rotterdam.

Meanwhile, Ben Shelton has also been in decent form in the weeks leading up to the Indian Wells Masters. He reached the third round in Melbourne and then played in the semifinals at the Dallas Open and the quarterfinals at the Mexican Open in Acapulco.

The head-to-head record between Shelton and Sinner stands at one-a-piece. Shelton defeated Sinner at the 2023 China Open, and the Italian avenged the loss a few weeks later at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna.