Ben Shelton has now recorded his biggest career victory beating Jannik Sinner at the Shanghai Masters, and his climb up the tennis rankings shows no signs of slowing down. In Shelton’s first ATP Tour season, semi-final appearances at the Australian Open and US Open were tucked between some disappointing outcomes.
The 21-year-old ended Jannik Sinner’s amazing run of success in China with a victory at the Shanghai Masters, and now he has earned his first victory over a player ranked among the top five. Shelton has developed the habit of winning on the largest tennis platforms, and following his victory over Sinner, he assessed his growth.
Shelton expressed his thoughts after the match and said: “To think that a year and a half ago I was in college and a year ago playing Challengers, now I am on center court in Shanghai with the crowd singing happy birthday. It is one of those pinch-me moments. I had a lot of belief in my ability to serve and hang tough and to make it deep in sets. I trusted my fitness levels, being able to go the distance. That gave me a lot of confidence.”
He added: “My serve wasn’t working that well in the first set, I felt that he was really on top of me. I really started to find my groove and had one of my best serving days in the second and third sets. I am addicted to playing on the big stages. I have not had a normal upbringing or a usual first year on Tour. It has been a little bit backwards but I am just trying to keep going and improving each week.”
Shelton d. Sinner 2-6 6-3 7-6
Ben becomes the 1st man to beat Jannik in China
âś…1st Masters QF
âś…2nd top 5 win
✅Snaps Jannik’s 7 match win streakPeople like to mistake his confidence for arrogance
He wouldn’t have won this if he didn’t believe in himself the way he does
🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/iYg5y6vFAz
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) October 10, 2023
Ben Shelton in 2023
Currently ranked no.20, Shelton played his last match on the 12th of October when he was defeated by world no.26 Sebastian Korda 6-7(10) 6-2 7-6(6) in the quarter in Shanghai (draw).
Currently, during this year Ben has achieved a composed 23-24 record. Ben Shelton’s most significant performance of the present season 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.
