MELBOURNE, Jan ‌20 (Reuters) - American eighth seed Ben ‌Shelton beat Ugo Humbert 6-3 ‌7-6(2) 7-6(5) in an engrossing battle of lefthanders at Rod Laver Arena on ‍Tuesday to reach the ‍second round of ‌the Australian Open.

Shelton, who lost to ‍eventual ​champion Jannik Sinner in last year's semi-finals, relied ⁠on his power to blast through ‌the first set but the Frenchman ⁠fought back ‍from a break down twice in the second.