Who is Ben Shelton as he becomes the youngest male American to reach US Open semi-final since 1992, with the tennis star set to face Novak Djokovic
- Ben Shelton has established himself as one of the stars of the US Open
- The 20-year-old defeated Frances Tiafoe in the quarter-finals of the tournament
- He is now scheduled to face Serbian star Novak Djokovic for a place in the final
Ben Shelton has become one of the top performers at this year’s US Open, with the 20-year-old set to face Novak Djokovic for a place in the final.
His quarter-final win over Frances Tiafoe made him the youngest American male to reach the last four stage of the competition since 1992.
Shelton is now set to face the 23 Grand Slam winner on Friday as he looks to reach his first final as a professional.
Carlos Alcaraz remains in the competition and is set to face Alexander Zverev for a place in the last four, while Daniil Medvedev takes on Andrey Rublev in the other quarter-final.
Mail Sport breaks down everything you need to know about Ben Shelton.
Ben Shelton has established himself as one of the top performers at this year’s US Open
The 20-year-old is set to face Serbian star Novak Djokovic for a place in the US Open final
Who is Ben Shelton?
Ben Shelton was born in October 9 2002 in Atlanta, Georgia. He has one sister called Emma, who also plays tennis.
It is fair to say that Shelton comes from a tennis background. His mother, Lisa Witsken Shelton, was a highly-ranked junior tennis player, while his uncle, Todd Witsken, was a professional tennis player.
Ben’s father Bryan, who has previously coached the Florida Gators men’s tennis team, was also a professional player.
Bryan turned professional in 1989 before retiring eight years later. He would reach a career high of No. 55 in the world during his time as a player. He now coaches his son Ben along with Dean Goldfine.
Growing up, Ben did not want to play tennis and was a big fan of football. At the age of 12, Shelton would begin to play regularly.
Shelton would remain in the States for his junior career before going on to commit to the University of Florida’s tennis programme.
Coached by his father, Shelton helped the Gators secure their first-ever national championship in 2021 before winning the NCAA Singles Championship in 2022.
A finance major at the university, Shelton opted to turn professional last year and complete his degree online.
Shelton comes from a big tennis background, with his father being a former professional
Ranking
As of August 28, Shelton is currently ranked 47 in the world.
He reached a career high of 35 following his success on the court earlier this year.
History
On July 26, 2022, Shelton made his ATP debut at the Atlanta Open. A week later, he played in the Cincinnati Masters, where he would go on to reach the third round.
Before losing to Cameron Norrie, Shelton picked up a win against the world No. 5 in Casper Rudd.
In August, Shelton announced that he would be turning professional. His second taste of a Grand Slam came at the 2023 Australian Open – where he would reach the fourth round with wins against Zhang Zhizhen, Nicolas Jarry, and Alexei Popyrin.
Despite turning professional last year, Shelton is already ranked within the top 50
He would go on to reach the quarter-final before losing to Tommy Paul. Shelton revealed that the trip to Melbourne was his first time leaving the United States.
Shelton has since travelled to Paris for Roland-Garros and London for Wimbledon. He suffered a second round defeat at the French Open and a first round defeat at Wimbledon.
With that being said, he has enjoyed a successful tournament at the 2023 US Open ahead of his showdown with Novak Djokovic, defeating the likes of Tommy Paul and Frances Tiafoe on the way to the semi-final.
The win over Tiafoe meant that he became the youngest American men’s tennis player to reach the last four at the US Open since 1992.
