Ben Shelton celebrated his birthday early on the Rolex Shanghai Masters with a pair of wins on the hard-court occasion. On Monday, the American’s twenty first birthday, Shelton marked the event with a cake, sharing the second along with his father and coach, Bryan Shelton.
The American has loads of motive to have fun, given his speedy rise on the ATP Tour. Earlier than the World No. 20 takes on Jannik Sinner on Tuesday in Shanghai, ATPTour.com highlights 5 milestones which have fuelled Shelton’s star energy.
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Shelton Stuns Ruud In Cincinnati, Turns Professional Quickly After
After making his tour-level debut in 2022 with a win in his native Atlanta, Shelton upset then-World No. 5 Casper Ruud within the Cincinnati second spherical. He didn’t face a break level towards the Norwegian, and the third-round run in his first ATP Masters 1000 proved the American belonged on the prime degree. Quickly after the occasion, Shelton introduced he would forgo the ultimate two years of his NCAA eligibility to show professional.
New Horizons: Australian Open QFs
Shelton closed the 2022 season by profitable three straight ATP Challenger Tour titles on U.S. soil to enter the High 100 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, then left the nation for the primary time for the 2023 Australian swing. Taking part in in his second main on the Australian Open (he earned a wild card into the 2022 US Open as an American NCAA singles champion), Shelton introduced himself as one of many hottest rising stars within the recreation with a surprising quarter-final run that included five-set wins towards Zhang Zhizhen and J.J. Wolf.
Ben Shelton cuts his birthday cake as his father and coach, Bryan Shelton, watches on. Picture courtesy of Rolex Shanghai Masters/Frey TPN.
Serving Discover
Whereas Shelton struggled to match the heights of his Melbourne run within the months to observe, he continued to develop his recreation — and his serve. Shelton routinely handed the 130-mph mark on his deliveries all through the season and topped out at 149 mph on the 2023 US Open. Previous to his second look at his residence main, Shelton gained his very first clay-court match in Estoril (d. Lestienne), earned his first grass-court victory at The Queen’s Membership (d. Wolf) and made a profitable Wimbledon debut (d. Daniel).
Residence Hero: US Open SFs
Similar to in Melbourne, Shelton as soon as once more introduced his finest tennis to a hard-court Grand Slam in New York. The unseeded star lit up Arthur Ashe Stadium with back-to-back wins in all-American matches towards Tommy Paul and Frances Tiafoe, then placed on a present in a valiant three-set defeat to eventual champion Novak Djokovic within the semi-finals. Shelton’s run lifted him to a career-high Pepperstone ATP Rating of No. 19.
Fairly sick @GQMagazine 😉 pic.twitter.com/mMUCxPRdfa
— Ben Shelton (@BenShelton) September 14, 2023
Laver Cup King
Similar to in his faculty days on the College of Florida, Shelton thrived within the staff environment at Laver Cup. The American debutant led captain John McEnroe’s Workforce World to victory with three match wins, together with the clinching doubles victory alongside Tiafoe.
from Tennis – ATP World Tour https://ift.tt/2uqSKcC
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