ATP Auckland 2024: Draw preview and prediction featuring Ben Shelton, Auger Aliassime and Arthur Fil

The ATP Auckland is the only ATP event that is played in New Zealand throughout the year. It has been played since 1956 and is the last tournament ahead of the Australian Open.

It thus serves as a brilliant opportunity to practice for the first Grand Slam of the year. The ATP 250 event will kick off on 8th January this year and go on until 13th January. 

Some big names like Ben Shelton, Cameron Norrie, Christopher Eubanks, and Arthur Fils will be making an appearance in the tournament. Among them, top seed Ben Shelton will step onto the court as the favorite to lift the trophy. The ATP Auckland was not played in the years 2021 and 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and it got restarted just last year. 

Tournament Details:

  • Tournament: ATP Auckland 2024
  • Date: January 8, 2024, to January 13, 2024
  • Number of entrants: 32
  • Venue: Auckland, New Zealand
  • Surface: Hard Court
  • Prize money: $661,585
  • Defending Champion: Richard Gasquet (2023)

Top Seeds at ATP Auckland:

  • Ben Shelton
  • Cameron Norrie
  • Francisco Cerundolo 
  • Felix Auger-Aliassime 
  • Christopher Eubanks 
  • Arthur Fils 
  • Sebastian Ofner
  • Max Purcell 

Singles Draw Preview 

Round-of-16 Prediction 

  • Ben Shelton to face Gael Monfils 
  • Roberto Bautista Agut to face Sebastian Ofner 
  • Francisco Cerundolo vs Benjamin Bonzi 
  • Aleksandar Vukic vs Max Purcell 
  • Arthur Fils vs Nuno Borges 
  • Daniel Altmaier vs Felix Auger-Aliassime
  • Christopher Eubanks vs Borna Gojo 
  • Cameron Norrie vs JJ Wolf 

Four of the seeded players, namely Ben Shelton, Francis Cerundolo, Félix Auger-Aliassime and Cameron Norrie, have been awarded byes in the tournament, and they will directly advance to the Round of-16. There will not be much competition in this round and almost all the results can be predicted easily. 

Quarter Finals 

  • Ben Shelton to face Roberto Bautista Agut 
  • Francisco Cerundolo to face Max Purcell
  • Arthur Fils to face Felix Auger-Aliassime
  • Christopher Eubanks to face Cameron Norrie

Things start to get exciting in the quarterfinals, as the seeded players will not start facing each other. The first match between Ben Shelton and Roberto Bautista will be interesting but the American youngster is definitely the favorite to outsmart the experienced Spaniard, as he is in great form. The matches between Arthur Fils and Felix Auger-Aliassime, and Christopher Eubanks and Cameron Norrie will also be extremely thrilling. 

Semi-Finals Prediction 

  • Ben Shelton to face Francisco Cerundolo
  • Felix Auger-Aliassime to face Christopher Eubanks

Ben Shelton is most likely to face Max Purcell in the first semi-final of ATP Auckland. The Argentine player is currently ranked World No. 19, while Shelton is ranked World No. 15. The young American recently proved his mettle to the world thanks to his performance in the 2023 US Open, where he reached the semi-finals.

Francisco Cerundolo, on the other hand, has had no significant achievements in the recent past. The 21-year-old has been in great form lately and thus he is the favorite in this match. 

Although Felix Auger-Aliassime has not won any major titles recently, barring the 2023 Swiss Indoors, he has improved his performances a lot lately and thus is a serious contender in the ATP Auckland. He is expected to beat Christopher Eubanks in the semi-finals. 

Finals Prediction 

The predicted final of the 2024 ATP Auckland will be played between Ben Shelton and Felix Auger-Aliassime. Both are great players and it will be a great match.

Although it is difficult to predict this final, Ben Shelton has an edge over Auger-Aliassime. The two players have never faced each other yet and it will be a great final. 

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