Shelton joins Kyrgios, Fritz, Tiafoe in UTS Showdown in Los Angeles

The 20-year-old has had a spectacular rise in the men’s game over the past 12 months, moving from outside the top 500 to his current ranking of No 35

Ben Shelton, Australian Open 2023 – © Imago / Panoramic

Haresh Ramchandani

May 15, 2023

Rising American Ben Shelton has been confirmed to play in the UTS Ultimate Tennis Showdown in Los Angeles this July.

Shelton, known for his big serve and powerful game, will be known as ‘The Mountain’ in the UTS Showdoown. The 20-year-old has had a spectacular rise in the men’s game over the past 12 months, moving from outside the top 500 to his current ranking of No 35.

Shelton joins a stellar field for the UTS Ultimate Tennis Showdown, which already includes Americans Taylor ‘Hotshot’ Fritz and Frances ‘Big Foe’ Tiafoe, Aussie Nick ‘King’ Kyrgios and Argentina’s Diego ‘El Peque’ Schwartzman.

The son of former ATP pro Bryan Shelton, Ben won the 2022 NCAA singles title last year and reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open in January this year during his first overseas trip. He also won 3 ATP Challenger titles last year.

Shelton: “I’m always open to try new things”

“This is definitely a different concept for me, a new concept, something that I’ve never played in before, completely different format so I’m really excited, I’m always open to try new things, so be able to play in the UTS and experience tennis in a different way I’m really happy.” said Shelton.

“I decided to say yes to play in the UTS in 2023 because I think it’s a great new avenue to grow our sport, I think that’s a type of tennis that’s gonna be very different and exciting and I think that it will really help grow the sport and grow the groups that are tennis fans.”

The UTS Ultimate Tennis Showdown takes place from July 21-23 in Carson, California in a stadium that can host 7,200 fans.

UTS marks the return of professional tennis to the Los Angeles region. The city had hosted an ATP event, which had an impressive roll of winners including Rod Laver, Jimmy Connors, Arthur Ashe, John McEnroe, Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras and Juan Martin del Potro, starting in the late 1960s until 2012.

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