Ben Shelton poised for tennis stardom

With a big game, an engaging personality, the pedigree, and plenty of hunger, teenager Ben Shelton has all the ingredients necessary to be a tennis superstar.

If you don’t already know him, pay attention to American teenager Ben Shelton.

Because if he fulfills even a portion of his potential, he’s going to be big. And I’m not talking moderately successful; I mean big. Nike banner in Times Square big. Fancy watch sponsor big.

So what’s the hoopla about? Why dedicate an entire blog to a guy ranked 281st in the world who played his first ATP match a couple of days ago?

To explain, I’ll tell you a story. On the first day of the Atlanta Open, I saw at least three tournament people fighting to “take care” of him. Later I heard two of them bragging to OTHER people about spending time with him. He has a…thing: a streak of charismatic sorcery that I can personally attest to in person and which I am reasonably certain will translate nearly as well on camera.

In fact, The Grandstand had a conversation with tournament director Eddie Gonzalez on Friday. His assessment of the second-round match between Shelton and John Isner on Thursday night? “Last night was magical,” Gonzalez said.

Magic. This young man has it. Lots and lots of it.

But do you know what else he has? Talent. He had a couple of highly successful years at the University of Florida in his freshman and sophomore seasons. The Gators won the NCAA team championship his first year and he snagged the singles title in 2022. College tennis might be a thing of the past for Shelton, however. Following his first ever tour-level match win in Atlanta, he confirmed that he received a main-draw wild card into the U.S. Open later this summer.

“Yeah, I believe I was told a week or two ago,” he said when asked about his status for the U.S. Open. And when asked if he’d made a decision about going back to school, he hedged. “I’m not sure. I think that will definitely be a talk later in the summer with my parents and my team. I think we’ll make a decision based on where my development is.”

The 19-year old played a pair of matches at the Atlanta Open and came within a hair’s breadth of beating Isner–a six-time Atlanta champion–in the second round after dispatching Ramkumar Ramanathan in the first. Shelton–whose father Bryan reached a career- high of No. 55 in the world and is currently the Florida head coach–has a powerful lefty serve, impressive variety, including a solid baseline and net game, and plenty of poise under pressure.

American tennis NEEDS guys like Shelton. I mean no disrespect to the generations of players since Andre Agassi retired, but American men’s tennis has been in quite a slump until recently. Andy Roddick was meant to be the heir apparent, but he ran smack into the Roger Federer/Rafael Nadal juggernaut. He ended up with a single major title (2003 U.S. Open) and that is the last time the United States produced a Grand Slam winner–a two-decade drought.

I don’t mean to imply that the U.S. hasn’t had talented players since Agassi. Isner has hovered consistently in the top 20 (with a few blips) since 2010. Sam Querrey, Jack Sock, and Steve Johnson have each enjoyed varying degrees of success but there was no significant spark of excitement. The recent group of young players, though? Fans are talking; sparks are sparking. They’re interested. They’re intrigued by Sebastian Korda, Taylor Fritz (who admittedly is older than the others), Jenson Brooksby, Maxime Cressy (also a bit older), and Frances Tiafoe.

And, yeah, they’re going to be talking about Ben Shelton right there in the mix.

American tennis may just be back. And at the end of the day, if it ends up that Shelton is the most successful of the lot? I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised.