WASHINGTON, August 1, 2024 (by Michael Dickens)
Ben Shelton is keenly aware that tennis is one of those sports where he’s not going to have a perfect week every week. How else does one explain a semifinal run at the US Open soon after back-to-back opening-round losses in Atlanta and Washington? It happened to Shelton a year ago at this time.
”It’s all about your 52 weeks, that body of work,” admits Shelton, 21, who is enjoying a career-best ranking of World No. 14 and is the youngest American ranked inside the Top 50. “That’s what I’m looking forward to and trying to get right.”
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The lefty Shelton, who possesses one of the most powerful first serves on the ATP Tour, is competing this week at the ATP/WTA 500-series Mubadala Citi DC Open in Washington, D.C. as the No. 2 seed in a talent-laden field filled that includes World No. 8 Andrey Rublev as well as top Americans Sebastian Korda, ranked 22nd, and No. 29 Frances Tiafoe.
Late Wednesday evening, following a brutally-hot afternoon that saw the local temperature soar to above 90 degrees Fahrenheit with 65 percent humidity followed by a thunderstorm that interrupted play for close to three hours, Shelton brought his cool-but-friendly demeanor onto the Stadium Court against 152nd-ranked qualifier Radu Albot from Moldova. There were still plenty of fans who braved the earlier heat and rain for a chance to see Shelton play.
“I think the few days leading up to this tournament, once the tournament starts, I’m really focusing on honing in on my aggressive game style, getting a lot of serve and volley reps, being a little bit more accurate with my first ball forehand, just trying to start feeling like I’m moving really well on the surface,” Shelton said earlier this week during his pre-tournament news conference.
“Those have been kind of three of my keys that I’ve been focusing on this week. I think I’m heading in the right direction.”
Showtime 🎬💫@BenShelton 🆚️ Albot is ON!@mubadalacitidc | #MubadalaCitiDCOpen pic.twitter.com/4gKnatANnW
— ATP Tour (@atptour) August 1, 2024
Against Albot, Shelton won 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3, in two hours and 17 minutes, ending well after 2 a.m. Thursday due to the late start of the Wednesday evening session. He fired 12 aces, hit 40 winners overall and outpointed his opponent 106-88 en route to earning his 24th victory of the season.
“I think everything in my game has certainly improved. I’ve put in a lot of good work in the last year. Just felt more comfortable on tour,” Shelton said. “I think a few big areas are my movement, my return of serve, and I would say just my shot tolerance in general.
“I think more often than not now I feel comfortable playing and moving on the court, getting into long points, and winning some of the long points.
“At this time last year, I was still more of a one-strike tennis player. I think I’ve added a lot of variety to my game.”
Shelton will be back on Stadium Court late Thursday afternoon against No. 13 seed Brandon Nakashima of the United States In the round of 16, looking to reach his fifth quarterfinal of the 2024 season.
Taking the long route home 🇺🇸🏠@BenShelton edges Albot 6-4 6-7(5) 6-3 @mubadalacitidc | #MubadalaCitiDCOpen pic.twitter.com/vQ5Ye6dLoA
— ATP Tour (@atptour) August 1, 2024
While many of Shelton’s friends and fellow Americans — such as Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul — are away representing the United States in the Paris Olympic Games, the former NCAA singles champion made the decision to stay behind and prepare for the North American hard-court season, which includes stops in Washington, Montreal and Cincinnati, and culminates with the US Open next month.
“Our season is really long. See a lot of people getting injured at this time of year, a lot of guys pulling out of the Olympics. They went and tried to play but weren’t ready,” Shelton admits.
“You go from clay to grass to clay to hard in a month and a half, you fly straight to Canada after the Olympics to then get ready for the US Open, play three more massive events, I didn’t think that was the right thing for me to do this year.
“Obviously I would love to play for my country in the future. I think that is something that would be really cool for me. I have tons of friends in the Olympics in different sports. Yeah, it’s a bucket list thing for me. I’m going to try to hard to qualify for L.A. in 2028.”
It’s a DC vibe 🦁#MubadalaCitiDCOpen • @BenShelton pic.twitter.com/H6h4FD3VEl
— Mubadala Citi DC Open (@mubadalacitidc) August 1, 2024
Shelton adds: “I’m happy with the decision I made. Certainly it was a difficult one. I think for preparation for the US Open, the rest of the year, it’s the right decision for me.”
When Shelton was asked by a reporter just how big this week in Washington was for him in trying to hone his skills for the US Open, his answer was surprising but refreshing.
“I don’t really put too much importance on any single week,” Shelton said. “This being a 500 is definitely an event that I want to perform well and do well. Any tournament in the U.S. is important to me.
“But we have two Masters 1000s and a Grand Slam coming up. I guess you could say that I put importance on every week I play in the calendar. I don’t care I feel a sense of urgency or anything like that about this week.”
