Ben Shelton (tennis)

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This article is about the tennis player. For the former baseball player, see Ben Shelton (baseball).
Ben Shelton
File:BenShelton2022USOpen.jpg
Shelton at the 2022 US Open
Country (sports)  United States
Residence Gainesville, Florida, United States
Born (2002-10-09) 9 October 2002 (age 21)
Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Height Lua error in Module:Convert at line 1851: attempt to index local 'en_value' (a nil value).[1]
Turned pro 2022
Plays Left-handed (two-handed backhand)
College Florida
Coach(es) Bryan Shelton
Dean Goldfine (traveling coach)[2]
Prize money US$296,487 [3]
Singles
Career record 8–5 (61.54%)[lower-alpha 1]
Career titles 0
Highest ranking No. 89 (16 January 2023)
Current ranking No. 89 (16 January 2023)[1]
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open QF (2023)
US Open 1R (2022)
Doubles
Career record 1–1 (50%)[lower-alpha 1]
Career titles 0
Highest ranking No. 280 (14 November 2022)
Current ranking No. 283 (9 January 2023)[1]
Grand Slam Doubles results
US Open 2R (2022)
Last updated on: 16 January 2023.

Ben Shelton (born October 9, 2002) is an American professional tennis player. Shelton has a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 89 achieved on 16 January 2023. He also has a career-high ATP doubles ranking of No. 280 achieved on 14 November 2022.

Shelton won the 2016 USTA junior national championship in doubles. He played college tennis for the Florida Gators. As a true freshman in 2021, he clinched the Gators’ first team national championship with his victory at fifth singles; the following year, he won the men's singles title at the 2022 NCAA Division I Tennis Championships. That same year, he was named the ITA National Player of the Year.[4]

Early and personal life

Shelton is the son of former professional tennis player and Florida Gators men's tennis coach, Bryan Shelton.[5] His mother, Lisa Witsken Shelton, was a highly-ranked junior tennis player, his uncle, Todd Witsken, was a professional tennis player and his sister, Emma, played college tennis at Florida.[6] Shelton was born in Atlanta, Georgia, as his father was the-then coach of Georgia Tech's women's tennis team.[7] He currently lives in Gainesville, Florida and graduated from Buchholz High School.[8]

Junior career

As a child, Shelton did not want to play tennis and, instead, played American football.[6] Despite both of his parents having connections to the game of tennis, they did not pressure him to play the sport.[6] At age 12, Shelton began playing tennis regularly and was coached by his father, Bryan, who is a college tennis coach.[2]

When Shelton turned 16, he considered playing ITF Junior tournaments abroad, but his father urged him not to do so saying: "Why do you need to travel abroad when you're not the best [player in the U.S.]?"[2] Shelton ultimately credits his father's advice not to play ITF Junior tournaments abroad as helping his tennis development because he was not constantly traveling and instead had a routine.[2]

Shelton peaked at a high of the No. 3 player in the USTA Boy's 18s division and No. 306 ITF Junior.[8] He was a finalist at the 2020 USTA Boys 18s Singles Winter Nationals and won the 2019 USTA Boys 16s Doubles Clay Court tournament.[8]

College career

File:Ben Shelton.png
Shelton in 2021

In June 2020, on Father's Day, Shelton committed to play collegiate tennis for the Florida Gators, under his father, Coach Bryan Shelton.[9]

A finance major, Shelton helped lead the Gators to their first national championship.[8] Shelton had a singles record of 10-2 and won the championship-clinching match for the Gators.[8]

In 2022, Shelton shined during his sophomore year going 37-5 in singles matches and winning the NCAA Singles Championship over August Holmgren.[7] He finished the year as the No. 1 singles player in ITA rankings.[8] He was subsequently named the 2022 ITA National Player of the Year and the 2022 SEC Player of the Year.[8]

As a rising-junior, Shelton was slated to return to Florida for the 2023 school year and stated he wanted to complete his finance degree.[7] Shortly after his successful run at the 2022 Cincinnati Masters, Shelton announced he would forgo his remaining college eligibility to turn professional and continue his college education online.[10][2]

Professional career

2022: Three Challenger titles, ATP, Major & top 100 debuts, first top-5 win

At the Georgia's Rome Challenger in July, Shelton reached his first Challenger final, losing to Wu Yibing.[11] The next week at the Indy Challenger, he reached the semifinals, highlighted by a win over world No. 103 Tim van Rijthoven.

He made his ATP Tour debut at the Atlanta Open as a wildcard, and in the first round he defeated Ramkumar Ramanathan for his first ATP win.[12] He lost his next match to the No. 2 seed John Isner in three sets.[13] Shelton received a wildcard entry into the Cincinnati Masters. In the first round, he defeated world No. 56 Lorenzo Sonego in three sets for his first win over a top-100 player.[14] In the 2nd round, Shelton faced world No. 5 Casper Ruud in his first matchup against a top-10 opponent. Shelton defeated Ruud, in straight sets, by a score of 6–3, 6–3 for his first top-10 win.[15]

On August 23, 2022, Shelton announced he was forgoing returning to college and would turn professional.[16][17] He announced that he would be represented by agent Alessandro Sant Albano, who is a part of Roger Federer's TEAM8 management firm.[2]

He also received a wildcard to appear in the main draw for his Grand Slam debut at the US Open on August 14.[18] He lost in the first round, in five sets, to Nuno Borges while also recording the second fastest serve of the US Open tournament at 139 mph in this match.[19] He also competed in doubles having paired with fellow American Christopher Eubanks. They were eliminated in the second round after defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas and Petros Tsitsipas in the first round.

He reached his third Challenger final of the year at the 2022 Tiburon Challenger after defeating top seed Denis Kudla. As a result he moved into the top 160 in the rankings on 10 October 2022. He advanced to his fourth Challenger final at the Charlottesville Men's Pro Challenger where he defeated his doubles' partner Christopher Eubanks to secure his first Challenger title. As a result he moved into the top 150 in the rankings at world No. 128 on 7 November.[20] His fifth Challenger final featured a repeat of his last with a win against Christopher Eubanks in the Knoxville Challenger which lifted him another 20 positions up to No. 108 in the rankings on 14 November. After winning his third straight title at the Champaign–Urbana Challenger, he debuted in the top 100 of the rankings ending the year at world No. 97 on 21 November 2022 and became the youngest player in ATP Challenger Tour history to win three titles in three weeks. He was also the youngest American in the Top 250.[21][22]

2023: Australian Open debut and quarterfinal, top 50

On his debut at the 2023 Australian Open, Shelton reached the fourth round, with wins against Zhang Zhizhen, Nicolás Jarry, and Alexei Popyrin.[23] This was only Shelton's second Grand Slam after the 2022 US Open.[24] Next he defeated compatriot J. J. Wolf to reach the quarterfinal of a Major for the first time in his career.[25] As a result he moved close to 50 positions up into the top 50. His run concluded with a four-set loss to fellow American Tommy Paul.

Endorsements

Shelton is sponsored by New Balance for clothing and shoes, and by Yonex for racquets.[26]

Playing style

Shelton's best weapon is his serve. He has the ability to hit a big first serve, which averages 126 miles-per-hour.[7] He also can produce a significant amount of kick on both first and second serves.[7] A left-handed player, Shelton is powerful and consistent on both the forehand and backhand side.[7] He is comfortable moving to the net off his powerful groundstrokes to finish points. Shelton has said "I love to get to net, be able to use some of my hand skills, athletic skills and going up to get the ball (to put away overheads) is one of my favorite things to do..."[7] He has said that the serve-and-volley is an important part of his game and an area he wants to further develop.[7]

Career statistics and records

Key
W  F  SF QF R# RR Q# A NH
(W) Won tournament; reached (F) final, (SF) semifinal, (QF) quarterfinal; (R#) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; competed at a (RR) round-robin stage; reached a (Q#) qualification round; (A) absent from tournament; or (NH) tournament not held.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated either at the conclusion of a tournament, or when the player's participation in the tournament has ended.

Singles

Current through the 2023 Australian Open.

Tournament 2021 2022 2023 SR W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A QF 0 / 1 4–1
French Open A A 0 / 0 0–0
Wimbledon A A 0 / 0 0–0
US Open Q2 1R 0 / 1 0–1
Win–loss 0–0 0–1 4–1 0 / 2 4–2
ATP Tour Masters 1000
Cincinnati Masters A 3R 0 / 1 2–1
Win–loss 0–0 2–1 0–0 0 / 1 2–1
Career statistics
Tournaments 0 3 2 5
Overall win–loss 0–0 3–3 5–2 0 / 5 8–5
Year-end ranking 573 96

Doubles

Tournament 2022 2023 SR W–L Win %
Australian Open A A 0 / 0 0–0  – 
French Open A 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Wimbledon A 0 / 0 0–0  – 
US Open 2R 0 / 1 1–1 50%
Win–loss 1–1 0–0 0 / 1 1–1 50%

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals

Singles: 7 (4–3)

Legend (singles)
ATP Challenger Tour (3–3)
ITF Futures Tour (1–0)
Titles by surface
Hard (4–3)
Clay (0–0)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Win 1–0 Jul 2021 M25 Champaign, USA World Tennis Tour Hard Netherlands Gijs Brouwer 7–6(7–4), 6–3
Loss 1–1 Jul 2022 Rome, USA Challenger Hard (i) China Wu Yibing 5–7, 3–6
Loss 1–2 Aug 2022 Chicago, USA Challenger Hard Russia Roman Safiullin 3–6, 6–4, 5–7
Loss 1–3 Oct 2022 Tiburon, USA Challenger Hard United States Zachary Svajda 6–2, 2–6, 4–6
Win 2–3 Oct 2022 Charlottesville, USA Challenger Hard (i) United States Christopher Eubanks 7–6(7–4), 7–5
Win 3–3 Nov 2022 Knoxville, USA Challenger Hard (i) United States Christopher Eubanks 6–3, 1–6, 7–6(7–4)
Win 4–3 Nov 2022 Champaign, USA Challenger Hard (i) Australia Aleksandar Vukic 0–6, 6–3, 6–2

Doubles: 2 (1–1)

Legend
ATP Challenger (0–0)
ITF Futures (1–1)
Finals by surface
Hard (1–0)
Clay (0–1)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1–0 Jul 2021 M25 Champaign, USA World Tennis Tour Hard United States Eliot Spizzirri South Korea Chung Yun-seong
Japan Rio Noguchi		 6–4, 6–0
Loss 1–1 Oct 2021 M15 Vero Beach, USA World Tennis Tour Clay Canada Liam Draxl Denmark Johannes Ingildsen
Portugal Duarte Vale		 3–6, 4–6

Record against top 10 players

Shelton's record against players who have been ranked in the top 10, with those who are active in boldface.

Player Record Win % Hard Clay Grass Last Match
Number 2 ranked players
Norway Casper Ruud 1–0 100% 1–0 – – Won (6–3, 6–3) at 2022 Cincinnati Masters
Number 8 ranked players
United States John Isner 0–1 0% 0–1 – – Lost (6–7(8–10), 6–4, 6–7(3–7)) at 2022 Atlanta
United Kingdom Cameron Norrie 0–1 0% 0–1 – – Lost (0–6, 2–6) at 2022 Cincinnati Masters
Total 1–2 33% 1–2
(33%)		 0–0
( – )		 0–0
( – )		 * Statistics correct as of 12 September 2022.

Wins over top 10 players

  • He has a 1–0 (100%) record against players who were, at the time the match was played, ranked in the top 10.
Season 2022 Total
Wins 1 1
# Player Rank Event Surface Rd Score BSR
2022
1. Norway Casper Ruud 5 Cincinnati Masters, United States Hard 2R 6–3, 6–3 229
*As of 17 August 2022

Explanatory notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 In ATP Tour and Grand Slam main draw matches, Summer Olympics, Davis Cup and Laver Cup

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ https://www.tennis.com/news/articles/caty-mcnally-ben-shelton-new-career-high-rankings-title-runs-bjk-cup-finals
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ https://www.tennis.com/news/articles/ranking-reaction-casper-ruud-finishes-year-at-no-3-ben-shelton-top-100-debut
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ https://www.atptour.com/en/news/shelton-australian-open-2023-r3-reaction
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

Sporting positions
Preceded by SEC Tennis Player of the Year
2022		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
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