His thrilling, late-night upset was “the greatest moment on a tennis court in my life,” says the 20-year-old.
If you’re a tennis fan, you already know about Ben Shelton—at least since the early hours of this morning, around 12:30am, when, with his electrifying victory over thatAmerican phenom, Frances Tiafoe, Shelton bought himself a place in the semifinals of the US Open.
His path to the top has been somewhat unconventional. In an era when most professionals start playing with some seriousness at the age of 3 or 4 and are often fully invested in the game before their age reaches double digits, Shelton didn’t really commit to tennis until he was 12 or so—despite having a father who was a former pro himself, a mother who was a highly ranked juniors player, an uncle who was a former pro, and a sister who played college tennis.
“I’d been so uptight about things,” Shelton said about that shot after the match. “I’d had so much stress, and I needed a release, and it ended up working out for me.” Indeed.
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