No fear: Rising American Ben Shelton oozing confidece ahead of clash with top-seeded Sinner

Now that he’s into the round of 16 at Wimbledon for the first time, American Ben Shelton can set his sights on one of the biggest challenges in the men’s game: world No 1 Jannik Sinner.

It’s a big ask, but one that the 21-year-old southpaw is eager to take on.

“I’m really excited,” said Shelton, who owns a 1-2 lifetime record against the Italian phenom, but has lost the their last two contests. “I think it’s a great opportunity for me, a great challenge and test. The biggest challenge in tennis, playing the top-ranked player in the world.

“But, you know, I’m never somebody to be scared going into a match or feel unprepared. I’m always confident in my abilities no matter who is on the other side of the net. I’m going to go out there and, like I said, try to problem-solve, figure things out as it goes and, yeah, just compete as hard as I can.”

A five-set stalwart

Now 6-2 in five-setters, and 3-0 in them this week at Wimbledon, Shelton says that he feels better the longer his matches go on.

“I definitely feel confident in how fit I am right now, how prepared I am to go the distance,” he said on Saturday, after finishing off his third consecutive five-set win over Denis Shapovalov

Shelton has spent over 10 hours on court this week, so he’ll have to dig deep to find the energy to push Sinner when they meet on Sunday on Court No.1 (second match). He believes that if he gets into another long encounter, he’ll be fine.

“I know I’m going to fight until the end out there. So I think that my confidence rises as I get deeper in the match. I just think that the more reps that I get throughout the match, the better I play,” he said.

Like father, like son?

Making Shelton’s win even more special on Saturday is the fact that he achieved his first Wimbledon round of 16 appearance on the 30-year anniversary of his father’s lone round of 16 run at Wimbledon. Bryan Shelton defeated No 2 seed Michael Stich in his best run at a Grand Slam at SW19 in 1994, and Shelton is thrilled to join the club.

He says he views his father’s achievement as more impressive.

“I think a lot more impressive that he was able to do it back in the day, beating the No. 2 player in the world as 50-something in the world,” he said. Really happy that we get to kind of share this moment together. 

Next mission? Shelton will try to surpass his father, a former world No 55, he never reached a major quarter-final.

“I’m just looking forward to this next match,” he said. “You know, we’ve been working really well together on the court. I think that with the new coaching rule, I think that the information that he’s able to give me during the match, he can help keep me in the right state of mind. Yeah, I’ve really enjoyed the kind of back and forth that we’ve been able to have during the matches.”

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