(TEN) New York Times Article: Ben Shelton Is Ready To Go Global

Ben Shelton, a strapping and mop-topped 20-year-old from Gainesville, Fla., is already ranked in the top 100 after a late-season surge last year. Now, he’s embarking on his first full season starting at the Australian Open, which starts on Monday and is part of his first trip outside the United States. His passport is in mint condition; his eyes are almost as big as his lefty serve.
“A whole lot of blue; it almost doesn’t look real,” Shelton said as he walked the grounds at Melbourne Park, with its azure signage and courts, for the first time this week. “It’s like an alternate world.”
Shelton earned his spot in Melbourne in a hurry, making the biggest leap into the year-end top 100 of any men’s singles player in 2022 by winning in the big leagues: He upset Casper Ruud, a French Open and U.S. Open finalist in 2022, in the second round of the Masters 1000 event in Mason, Ohio, in August.
But Shelton did it, above all, by winning in the minor leagues, taking three consecutive titles indoors on the Challenger circuit in November to secure direct entry into the Australian Open based on his ranking. He had already guaranteed himself a wild-card slot — part of a reciprocal agreement for Grand Slam entries between the United States Tennis Association and Tennis Australia — by compiling the best results among eligible Americans in the late season. But that was not the path down under that he preferred.

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The photo of Ben in the NYTimes article is of him practicing with tennis legend Rafa Nadal down under. Ben looks more lean and fit here.

 

I do not have ESPN+ so I was checking for score updates on the ESPN site. The score stayed at 1-1 in the 5th set forever. I thought there was some technical glitch on the score update. This is great news! Ben's next opponent is 27 year old 6'6" Nicolas Jarry from Chile, who knocked off the 26 seed in straight sets. Hopefully Ben will recover quickly after such a long match.
Advancing to the next round in a Grand Slam is massive in both points towards ranking and financially. Players advancing to the 2nd round in singles earn $106,698 (USD). 3rd Round guarantees $153,096. 4th Round guarantees a payout of $227,199. QF $327,596, SF $621,313, Finalist $1,091,496 and champion $1,998,278.

 

Shoutout to Ben on ESPN:

Australian Open 2023: Ranking the tournament's top players
Tier 6: There's no way... OR IS THERE?
Ben Shelton (USA): Shelton had a meteoric rise late in 2022 and he finished the season with three-straight Challenger titles and a top-100 debut. The reigning NCAA singles champion, Shelton put his peers on notice with a third-round run in Cincinnati -- including an upset victory over Ruud -- as a wild card in August. While the unexpected Cinderella runs of young players are more common on the women's side, if anyone could do it on the men's side, it might just be Shelton.

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Love the Gator chomp at the end!

 

Ben wins in straight sets!!! 7-6, 7-6, 7-5