Ben Shelton

Benjamin Todd Shelton (born October 9, 2002) is an American professional tennis player. He has been ranked by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) as high as world No. 5 in singles, which he achieved on 10 November 2025, and No. 68 in doubles, attained on 20 May 2024. Shelton is the current No. 2 American singles player.

Shelton has won four singles titles on the ATP Tour, the most significant at the 2025 Canadian Open, a Masters 1000 level event. He also reached two major semifinals at the 2023 US Open and the 2025 Australian Open.

Shelton is known for his powerful left-handed serves and boisterous personality. He is coached by his father, former professional player and college coach Bryan Shelton.

Early life

Shelton is the son of former professional tennis player, Florida Gators men's tennis coach Bryan Shelton, who now coaches his son. His mother, Lisa Witsken Shelton, was also a highly ranked junior tennis player, and his uncle, Todd Witsken, was a professional tennis player. His sister Emma played college tennis at Florida. Shelton was born in Atlanta, Georgia, as his father was the then-coach of Georgia Tech's women's tennis team.

Juniors

Shelton played American football in his early childhood, and his parents did not pressure him to play tennis. At age 12, he began playing tennis regularly, coached by his father, who at the time was a college tennis coach.

Shelton peaked at No. 3 in the USTA Boys' 18s division rankings. He was a runner-up at the 2020 USTA Boys 18s Winter Nationals and won the 2019 USTA Boys 16s tournament in doubles.

Shelton had mixed results on ITF junior circuit, being less successful at international jr. events. He reached a junior combined ranking of No. 306 in December 2020.

College years

From 2020 to 2022, he played collegiate tennis for the Florida Gators. A finance major, Shelton mostly played No. 5 singles as a freshman in 2020–21 and had an overall record of 28–5. He helped the Gators win the Southeastern Conference (SEC) regular season title, and he won the championship-clinching match at the 2021 NCAA Championships, securing Florida's first national title.

In 2021–22, Shelton had a record of 37–5 in singles matches (including 14–2 in the No. 1 spot). He won the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) All-American Championships in the fall without dropping a set. He helped Florida defend their SEC title and win the SEC Tournament Championship. Shelton won the 2022 NCAA Singles Championship over August Holmgren and finished the season as the nation's top-ranked player. He was named SEC Player of the Year and National Player of the Year.

Shelton returned to Florida for his junior year in 2022–23 to complete his finance degree, but soon continued his college education online.

Professional career

2022: ATP debut, Challenger titles, top-5 win

At the Georgia's Rome Challenger in July, Shelton reached his first Challenger final, losing to Wu Yibing. The next week at the Indy Challenger, he reached the semi-finals, highlighted by a win over world No. 103 Tim van Rijthoven.

Shelton made his ATP Tour debut at the Atlanta Open as a wildcard, and in the first round he defeated Ramkumar Ramanathan for his first ATP win. He lost his next match to the No. 2 seed John Isner in three sets. Shelton received a wildcard entry into the Cincinnati Masters. In the first round, he defeated world No. 56 Lorenzo Sonego in three sets for his first win over a top-100 player. In the 2nd round, Shelton faced world No. 5 Casper Ruud in his first matchup against a top-10 opponent. Shelton defeated Ruud, in straight sets for his first top-10 win.

On August 23, 2022, Shelton announced he would not return to college and would turn professional. He announced that he would be represented by agent Alessandro Sant Albano, who is a part of Roger Federer's TEAM8 management firm.

Shelton also received a wildcard to appear in the main draw for his Grand Slam debut at the US Open on August 14. He lost in the first round, in five sets, to Nuno Borges while also recording the second fastest serve of the US Open tournament at 149 miles per hour (240 km/h) in this match. He also competed in doubles having paired with fellow American Christopher Eubanks. They were eliminated in the second round after defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas and Petros Tsitsipas in the first round.

Shelton reached his third Challenger final of the year at the 2022 Tiburon Challenger after defeating top seed Denis Kudla. As a result, he moved into the top 160 in the rankings on October 10, 2022. He advanced to his fourth Challenger final at the Charlottesville Men's Pro Challenger where he defeated his doubles partner Christopher Eubanks to secure his first Challenger title. As a result, he moved into the top 150 in the rankings at world No. 128 on November 7. His fifth Challenger final featured a repeat of his last with a win against Christopher Eubanks in the Knoxville Challenger which lifted him another 20 positions up to No. 108 in the rankings on November 14. After winning his third straight title at the Champaign–Urbana Challenger, he debuted in the top 100 of the rankings ending the year at world No. 97 on November 21, 2022, and became the youngest player in ATP Challenger Tour history to win three titles in three weeks. He was also the youngest American in the Top 250.

2023: First Major semifinal, first ATP title, top 15

On his debut at the 2023 Australian Open, Shelton reached the fourth round, with wins against Zhang Zhizhen, Nicolás Jarry, and Alexei Popyrin. This was only Shelton's second Grand Slam after the 2022 US Open. Next he defeated compatriot J. J. Wolf to reach the quarterfinal of a Major for the first time in his career. His run concluded with a four-set loss to fellow American Tommy Paul. As a result, he moved 45 positions up into the top 50, at world No. 44, for the first time in his career.

In the beginning of the American hard court season for 2023, Shelton faced a tough start, experiencing defeat in the opening round at the 2023 Delray Beach Open, losing in straight sets to Marcos Giron. His struggles continued at the Mexican Open, where he once again fell in the first round, this time to the fourth-seeded Holger Rune, in a match that stretched to three sets. However, Shelton managed to bounce back at Indian Wells, securing a victory over Fabio Fognini in the initial round, only to be bested by fellow American Taylor Fritz in the second round.

At the 2023 US Open Shelton made it to his first Grand Slam semifinal, where he lost in straight sets to second seed and eventual champion Novak Djokovic. As a result, he reached the top 20 in the rankings at world No. 19 on September 11, 2023.

At the 2023 Rolex Shanghai Masters he reached the quarterfinals of a Masters 1000 for the first time defeating fourth seed Jannik Sinner for the second biggest win of his career. He reached his maiden final and won his maiden title at the 2023 Japan Open Tennis Championships defeating qualifier Taro Daniel, Jordan Thompson, fifth seed Tommy Paul, qualifier Marcos Giron and Aslan Karatsev. He became the sixth first-time ATP champion in the season and as a result reached the top 15 in the singles rankings on October 23, 2023.

2024: First title on clay, American No. 1, maiden UTS title

At the U.S. Clay Court Championships he reached his first quarterfinal on clay courts defeating Zizou Bergs, and his first semifinal defeating compatriot Brandon Nakashima. Next he defeated fourth seed Tomás Martín Etcheverry to reach his first clay court final. He won his second career title and first on clay becoming the youngest champion since Andy Roddick in 2002, defeating third seed Frances Tiafoe in the first African-American men's singles tennis final in the Open Era. As a result, he reached a new career-high singles ranking of world No. 14 on April 8, 2024, and became the American No. 1 player ahead of Taylor Fritz on April 15, 2024. He became the youngest American No. 1 player since Andy Roddick achieved the feat in March 2004. Shelton would go on to reach a new ranking of world No.13 in August.

At the Cincinnati Open he reached the round of 16 for the second time at the tournament, saving a match point against Tomás Martín Etcheverry. he reached his second Masters career quarterfinal with a win over Fábián Marozsán. Shelton reached the third round of the US Open, defeating former 2020 champion Dominic Thiem in his final US Open, and Roberto Carballes Baena in the second round, before losing to eventual semifinalist Francis Tiafoe in a repeat of the previous year's quarter-final.