The 20-year-old Ben Shelton has been a revelation at the ongoing edition of the Australian Open. The youngster from America has toppled some big names in the competition.
Ben Shelton did not have a win at a major prior to the 2023 Australian Open. Now, he has made it to the second week of the tournament and qualified for the quarterfinals in his Australian Open debut.
So far in the competition, Shelton has defeated Zhizhen Zhang, Nicolas Jarry, Alexei Popyrin, and compatriot J.J. Wolf en route to the quarterfinals. By virtue of his fourth-round win against Wolf, Shelton became the first person to enter the quarterfinals of a major before turning 21 since Andy Roddick. Shelton wasn’t a professional tennis player before June 2022. Now he is guaranteed a place in the top 50 of the ATP rankings.
The tennis world has been effusive in singing praises of the talented player. However, Shelton is in no mood to get carried away. In fact, during a post-match interview, Shelton revealed that he is giving great importance to education. He wants to get his college degree and stated how he is taking classes at a slower pace to manage his education as well as sports at the same time. He said:
“I’m taking classes at a slower pace, it’s very manageable. I really wanna get my degree. It’s something important to me”.
After making it to the quarterfinals of the 2023 Australian Open, Ben Shelton is being hailed as a player to watch out for.
In the quarterfinals, Shelton will lock horns with fellow American Tommy Paul. The 25-year-old Paul is also going to play his first Grand Slam quarterfinal.
It promises to be an intriguing affair as both players will be facing each other for the first time. The match will be held in the Rod Laver Arena on Wednesday.
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