{"id":106451,"date":"2026-06-10T14:14:31","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T18:14:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/?p=106451"},"modified":"2026-06-10T14:14:31","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T18:14:31","slug":"atp-stuttgart-predictions-shelton-giron","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2026\/06\/10\/atp-stuttgart-predictions-shelton-giron\/","title":{"rendered":"ATP Stuttgart Day 4 Predictions Including Ben Shelton vs Marcos Giron"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.atptour.com\/en\/scores\/current\/stuttgart\/321\/daily-schedule?day=6\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ATP Stuttgart Open<\/a> 2026 edition is into Day 4, with the Round of 16 set to be completed. We have a great mix of top seeds, young entrants and surprising candidates still left in the mix. As ever, we preview and predict the matches for you.<\/p>\n<h2>ATP Stuttgart Day 4 Predictions<\/h2>\n<h4>Rinky Hijikata vs Frances Tiafoe<\/h4>\n<p>Head-to-head &#8211; Hijikata 1-3 Tiafoe<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">Rinky Hijikata<\/span><\/span> and <span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">Frances Tiafoe<\/span><\/span> both had to battle through tough first-round matches in Stuttgart. Tiafoe leads the head-to-head 3\u20131, including two wins earlier this year, and his game is particularly effective on grass. The American&#8217;s greater power, especially from the baseline, allows him to penetrate the court more consistently. Expect Hijikata to compete hard and potentially take a set, but Tiafoe looks the safer pick to advance.<br \/>\n<em>Prediction: Tiafoe in 3<\/em><\/p>\n<h4>Nick Kyrgios vs Sho Shimabukuro<\/h4>\n<p>Head-to-head &#8211; First Meeting<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">Nick Kyrgios<\/span><\/span> looked in excellent rhythm during his opening-round win over Corentin Moutet, producing the kind of aggressive tennis that makes him so dangerous on grass. <span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">Sho Shimabukuro<\/span><\/span> is a solid player, but there is a noticeable gap in firepower and ball-striking quality between the two. If Kyrgios serves and returns with the same confidence, he will be extremely difficult to contain on these fast courts. Expect the Australian to dictate play and progress comfortably.<br \/>\n<em>Prediction: Kyrgios in 2<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"max-width: px\"><smartframe-embed class=\"smartframe_wp_element\" customer-id=\"b0c95bc04383cef69c6b47df872135cf\" image-id=\"WmOBx72Zfhw4\" style=\"width: 100%; display: inline-flex; max-width: 4000px; aspect-ratio: 4000\/2668;\" ><\/smartframe-embed><\/p>\n<h4>Martin Landaluce vs Taylor Fritz<\/h4>\n<p>Head-to-head &#8211; First Meeting<\/p>\n<p><span>Taylor Fritz is the defending champion in\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Stuttgart_Open\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Stuttgart<\/a><span>. Returning to a place with happy memories might be just what he needs <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2026\/06\/08\/taylor-fritz-grass-season\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">after losing in the opening round of the French Open<\/a>. I do not expect him to face many issues against Landaluce. The Spaniard does not have any pedigree on grass and will likely be overwhelmed by his opponent\u2019s power on serve and in the rallies.<\/span><br \/>\n<em>Prediction: Fritz in 2<\/em><\/p>\n<h4>James Duckworth vs Jiri Lehecka<\/h4>\n<p>Head-to-head &#8211; First Meeting<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">James Duckworth<\/span><\/span> faces a difficult challenge against <span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">Jiri Lehecka<\/span><\/span>. Lehecka endured a below-par clay-court season, but the switch to grass should suit his game far better. The Czech strikes the ball cleanly off both wings and thrives on quicker surfaces where he can take time away from opponents. Duckworth is a capable grass-court player, but Lehecka possesses a higher level of baseline quality and should be able to dictate most of the rallies. Expect Lehecka to come through comfortably.<br \/>\n<em>Prediction: Lehecka in 2<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"max-width: px\"><smartframe-embed class=\"smartframe_wp_element\" customer-id=\"b0c95bc04383cef69c6b47df872135cf\" image-id=\"WmOBDbQp29JT\" style=\"width: 100%; display: inline-flex; max-width: 8050px; aspect-ratio: 8050\/5367;\" ><\/smartframe-embed><\/p>\n<h4>Ben Shelton vs Marcos Giron<\/h4>\n<p>Head-to-head &#8211; Shelton 2-1 Giron<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"42\" data-end=\"409\"><span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">Ben Shelton<\/span><\/span> has to be considered one of the dark horses for <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/category\/wimbledon\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Wimbledon<\/a> given how well his game translates to grass. His powerful serve and willingness to attack the net make him a dangerous opponent on faster courts. He faces fellow American <span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">Marcos Giron<\/span><\/span>, who is capable of matching him from the baseline for periods. However, Shelton holds a clear advantage in terms of raw power, particularly on serve. Giron is a solid competitor, but he may struggle to consistently hurt Shelton on this surface. Expect Shelton to take control of the match and progress without too many issues.<\/p>\n<p><em>Prediction: Shelton in 2<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Main Photo Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The ATP Stuttgart Open 2026 edition is into Day 4, with the Round of 16 set to be completed. We have a great mix of top seeds, young entrants and surprising candidates still left in the mix. As ever, we preview and predict the matches for you. ATP Stuttgart Day 4 Predictions Rinky Hijikata vs [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3075,"featured_media":61211,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[6447,16662,17963,348,15512,4366,15988,13325,17201,6915,15681,18299,18300,209,16194,17113,17114,18267,18268,347,15712,2373,2369],"class_list":["post-106451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-predictions","tag-atp-stuttgart-predictions","tag-ben-shelton","tag-ben-shelton-predictions","tag-frances-tiafoe","tag-frances-tiafoe-predictions","tag-james-duckworth","tag-james-duckworth-predictions","tag-jiri-lehecka","tag-jiri-lehecka-predictions","tag-marcos-giron","tag-marcos-giron-predictions","tag-martin-landaluce","tag-martin-landaluce-predictions","tag-nick-kyrgios","tag-nick-kyrgios-predictions","tag-rinky-hijikata","tag-rinky-hijikata-predictions","tag-sho-shimabukuro","tag-sho-shimabukuro-predictions","tag-taylor-fritz","tag-taylor-fritz-predictions","tag-tennis-picks","tag-tennis-predictions"],"modified_by":"Yesh Ginsburg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3075"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106451"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106451\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":106455,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106451\/revisions\/106455"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61211"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}