Pam Shriver, a former tennis player, praised Ben Shelton, Carlos Alcaraz, and Coco Gauff as the three most promising young players in the world of tennis right now. All three players have had an exceptional year, showcasing their enormous potential on the professional tour.
Alcaraz and Gauff won Grand Slams at Wimbledon and the US Open respectively, while Shelton advanced to his first career semifinal in New York. The trio were complimented by Shriver, for carrying out a rise among players between the ages of 19 and 21 on the main tour.
Shriver stated her remarks about the young players in a podcast and said: “I think Ben Shelton along with Carlos Alcaraz and Coco Gauff lead the charge among 19, 20, 21-year-old age group that’s and that’s pretty special.”
Alcaraz and Gauff had previously demonstrated their potential in recent years, with the Spaniard winning his maiden Grand Slam at the US Open in 2022 and Gauff finishing as the runner-up at the French Open the previous year. However, Shelton has been a joyful surprise in 2023.
When Shriver looked back on Shelton’s US Open run, she remarked on the special instance when Novak Djokovic imitated his cheeky phone call celebration in New York, expressing her amusement at sharing a place with the top-tier Serbian champion.
She added: “It’s a combination of young fresh face and the bold personality you know. He was part of one of the most controversial moments, a couple of them at the US Open when he hung up when he answered the phone call against Tiafoe, and then Djokovic kind of turned the tables and did the same thing but it was it’s kind of like cool for tennis to be like in the trash talking elite of athletes, why not.”
👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 pic.twitter.com/tK5RRQotnz
— Pam Shriver (@PHShriver) September 9, 2023
Ben Shelton in 2023
Ranked world no.20, Shelton played his last match on the 12th of October when he surrendered to world no.26 Sebastian Korda 6-7(10) 6-2 7-6(6) in the quarter in Shanghai (draw).
Currently, during this year the American achieved a composed 23-24 win-loss record. Ben Shelton’s best result of the year was reaching the semifinal in the Cagliari Challenger and at the U.S. Open.
He is also scheduled to play in Vienna (Erste Bank Open) on the 23rd of October and Paris (Rolex Paris Masters) on the 30th of October.
Carlos Alcaraz in 2023
LWWWLWWWWW At the moment ranked no.2, the Spaniard played his last match on the 11th of October when he was overcome by world no.19 Grigor Dimitrov 5-7 6-2 6-4 in the 4th round in Shanghai (draw).
Until now, during this year Carlos achieved an overall 63-9 win-loss record. The Spaniard has won 6 titles in 2023 in Buenos Aires, Indian Wells, Barcelona, Madrid, London and Wimbledon. Alcaraz was the runner-up in Rio de Janeiro and Cincinnati.
He is also scheduled to play in Paris (Rolex Paris Masters) after Basel. The main draw will start on the 23rd of October.
Ben Shelton and Carlos Alcaraz squared off just on 1 occasion. Their actual record is 1-0 for Alcaraz. When they played, Carlos Alcaraz won 6-3 7-6(3) in the 2nd round in Toronto (National Bank Open) on the 9th of August 2023.
You can watch the highlights in the following video.
Coco Gauff in 2023
LWWWWLWWLW At the moment ranked no.3 (career-high), Coco played her last match on the 7th of October when she lost to world no.2 Iga Swiatek 6-2 6-3 in the semifinal in Beijing (draw).
At present, during this year the American has a 49-14 match record. The American conquered 4 titles in 2023 in Auckland, Washington, Cincinnati and U.S. Open.
