Ben Shelton's year has been bookended by a breakout run to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, and a historic semifinal berth here in Flushing Meadows, where in the early-morning hours of Wednesday the 20-year-old newcomer dispatched countryman Frances Tiafoe, 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(7), 6-2. It was the first-ever US Open quarterfinal featuring two Black American men.
In between, though, there was a whole lot of struggle. Following his success in Melbourne, Shelton would fail to piece together back-to-back wins at ATP Tour events for the next seven months. A drop down to the ATP Challenger level only did so much to restore his confidence, and he limped into the year-end Slam with just four wins in his last 14 tour-level matches.
“You learn a lot about yourself through the losses, probably more than the wins,” said Ben’s father, former ATP pro and Division I college coach Bryan Shelton. “So this season for him has been just a great learning experience.”
Prior to the Australian summer, Ben had never once set foot outside the United States. He hadn’t played so much as a match on grass or clay. He didn't even have a passport. So his first real go at tour life after the University of Florida, where he captured the 2022 NCAA singles and team titles, was bound to come with some challenges.
“Traveling around the globe and going to places and playing on surfaces and just doing things he’s never done before — for him, the education has been unbelievable,” Shelton Sr. told reporters on Wednesday.
“It certainly helped to kind of reveal where he needed to continue to improve. Pressure does that, kind of reveals your weaknesses and the chinks you have in your armor. Some of the things we are most proud about are just his resilience and just how many times he keeps coming back and answering the call, even after a loss.”
Shelton Sr. knows what it takes to compete with the best, both in the collegiate and professional ranks. He climbed as high as No. 55 in the world in 1992 and collected wins over the likes of Andre Agassi and Thomas Muster. He said his son has been putting in some serious hours on the practice courts, honing his return of serve while also learning how to mix the speeds and spots on his own serve. It's no longer always about going for the 149 MPH missile.
“Experience can be a wonderful thing, right?" said Shelton Sr. "He’s gained a lot of great experience. He’s had to play on clay courts for a couple of months at a time and and so he’s learned a little bit more patience. He’s learned a little bit more about how to play defense. He’s learned his offense has to be really good on that type of surface in order to execute against the best players in the world. He’s starting to mature a little bit more as a player.”
To fully understand just how far Ben has come since the beginning of the year, all you had to do was watch the third-set tiebreak of his match against Tiafoe. With a set point on his opponent’s racquet at 6/7 in the breaker, Shelton absolutely demolished a forehand return that landed just inside the baseline. It was a risky play, to say the least. Then again, he’s never been one to go the safe route.
“With Ben and his personality and just the way that he attacks life and tennis and everything, it’s always been about trying to rein him in, never about trying to get him to play outside,” said Shelton Sr., who guided Ben’s Florida team to the NCAA title in 2022. “I’d always prefer that it be this way. It’s hard to get someone to want to step up when they’re naturally timid or shy or just not aggressive.”
“For us, that’s never been a problem—not with Ben.”
The stakes only get bigger from here for the energetic left-hander. Next up is a big-stage showdown with Novak Djokovic in his first-ever major semifinal. As with those near-summer-long struggles, Ben has learned much from watching the all-time Slam King and his chief rivals in recent years.
“Ben’s approach is a cliché; it’s ‘Let's just try to get a little bit better.’ I think he’s got amazing examples over this last 20-year stretch with Roger and Rafa and Novak, of guys that continually look to get better," said Shelton Sr. "If those guys can look to get better every single day and they’re the standard of excellence at the very top of the game for a long period of time, that’s a good example for him to follow.”
