Ben Shelton survives five matches to join his father in the Wimbledon second week club

By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Saturday, July 6, 2024

Five is the magic number for Ben Shelton at Wimbledon this year.

The 21-year-old American has made it to the round of 16 at Wimbledon for the first time in his career, and the third time. In three five-set matches and over 13 hours of play, Shelton has won over Mattia Bellucci, Otto Virtanen and Denis Shapovalov.

With his victory of 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, the world number 14 improves his record in five-set tournaments to 6-2 and in the majors to 17-7.

Now he joins his father and coach Bryan at the second week club at Wimbledon. His father made it to the round of 16 in 1994. Thirty years later, it’s Shelton’s turn to shine.

“We’re back, big dog,” Shelton told his father after the in during his on-field interview.

The former NCAA champion’s next challenge will be more challenging than the previous three. On Sunday he will face world number one Jannik Sinner. The two will meet for the fourth time and for the first time on grass.

“I’m happy with what I’ve accomplished so far, but I’m definitely not satisfied,” Shelton told the crowd. “I think the pinnacle of tennis is playing the No. 1 player in the world at Wimbledon, probably on Centre Court. So I’m very excited and ready to go.”

After 13 hours and 23 minutes of hard work on the grass, Shelton must return to the court without a break to master one of the greatest challenges in men’s tennis. He has a lifetime record against Sinner of 1:2.

Does it bother him that he had to spend so much time on court during the first week of Wimbledon and had so little time to rest? Quite the opposite, Shelton is just happy to be here and to be pursuing his dreams at SW19.

“I think it was nice that it rained a little bit yesterday and I had another day of rest,” he said. “I’m just happy to be competing out here. It’s Wimbledon, there’s no better place in the world to play tennis, so it’s hard to be tired out here.”