Since becoming the game’s breakout star at Australian Open 2023, time on tour has been tough for Ben Shelton.
Yet this week in New York, the 20-year-old American has reminded everyone how much of an electrifying force he can be when his game is clicking.
Shelton belted past Aslan Karatsev 6-4 3-6 6-2 6-0 and into the fourth round of the US Open, another Grand Slam milestone in his blossoming career. His 26 aces – and a top serve speed approaching 240km/h – were among 38 winners, against just 15 unforced errors.
“I'm really happy to be into the next round obviously. Ecstatic,” Shelton said after an impressively clean performance.
“Glad that I had a chance to be in a position similar to this earlier in the year. So I feel kind of prepared what's to come mentally and physically, being able to play on a big stage at a Grand Slam against the exact same guy I'm going to be playing next round.”
The result has seen him surge 11 places in the ATP live rankings to world No.36 and, as he referenced, sets a fourth-round showdown with countryman Tommy Paul.
If it seems familiar, it’s because you saw Paul tackle Shelton at Melbourne Park, in what was a major quarterfinal debut for both.
Paul emerged triumphant, and since that result, Shelton’s fortunes took a turn.
That Antipodean trip – he began 2023 in Auckland, before heading to Melbourne – was, astonishingly, Shelton’s first ever competitive trip outside the United States.
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Tournament after tournament that followed represented new experiences and frontiers for the left-hander, who had spent much of 2022 on the Challenger circuit and barely played at ATP Tour level. He had never played on red clay, nor grass.
Because he had cracked the top 50 following his AO quarterfinal run, he could enter all of the sport’s biggest tournaments. It was a steep learning curve.
From February to July, Shelton lost 17 of his next 24 matches, beating just one top-50 player – 47th-ranked J.J. Wolf – in that period. After leaving Australia, he did not win back-to-back matches at tour level until this week’s US Open.
Shelton, who attended the University of Florida before turning pro in 2022, admitted he found the tour a lonelier place compared to college tennis, with a more relentless schedule, plus more time alone with his own thoughts in hotel rooms.
Yet signs of an upswing appeared in August. He pushed world No.1 Carlos Alcaraz, and fourth-ranked Stefanos Tsitsipas, to tiebreaks at respective Masters events in Toronto and Cincinnati. He also beat 29th-ranked Wimbledon quarterfinalist Christopher Eubanks, his best win, by ranking, of the season.
“I think knowing that it was my first time playing every tournament, and my first time on two surfaces that have been the majority of the season, I don't take that lightly… I'm going to have to make some improvements and adjustments,” he reflected.
“I kind of had to keep my perspective and know that, ‘Okay, it's not like I'm supposed to go out here and win every single match I play just because I did something good early in the season’.
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“I think (it was about) having the right people around you, keeping my head screwed on straight, knowing that this is a marathon not a sprint, and I have a lot of long-term goals.
“I'm not as worried about the short-term.”
Shelton nevertheless arrived in New York with some more momentum and confidence behind him, and has since overcome Pedro Cachin, Dominic Thiem and Karatsev to reach the second week.
He is also benefitting from the energy of teaming with Taylor Townsend in mixed doubles; the American lefties made a winning start to their campaign later on Friday, upsetting fourth seeds Luisa Stefani and Joe Salisbury, both major doubles champions.
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Shelton, who believes smiling and having fun helps him play his best tennis, was certainly benefitting from that ethos at this year’s US Open.
He gets another crack at Paul on Sunday in New York.
“To have a day like this at the US Open is pretty cool,” said Shelton after winning his singles and mixed matches within a few hours.
“I feel confident in the work that I put in. I think that things are slowly coming together in my game. I think the Grand Slams give me a great chance to show how competitive I am, give me a chance to be tough mentally and physically. I think it's a completely different ball game than two-out-of-three sets.
“(At the Australian Open against Paul) I was a little unsure of what to expect. I hadn't really been in that situation before, quarterfinals of a Grand Slam, on Rod Laver, packed stadium. I think I panicked a little bit, pressed early in the match, and he kind of got on top of me.
“I hope to do a little bit better job of that this time around."