By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Saturday July 6, 2024
Ben Shelton captured his third consecutive five-setter and celebrated with his dad on Saturday at Wimbledon.
Photo Source: Matthew Calvis
Five is the magic number for Ben Shelton at Wimbledon this year.
The 21-year-old American is through to the round of 16 for the first time in his career at Wimbledon, and he’s doing it the third way. Three five-setters, and over 10 hours of court time, have seen Shelton notch wins over Mattia Bellucci, Otto Virtanen and Denis Shapovalov.
With his 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 victory, the World No.14 improves to 6-2 lifetime in five-setters, and 17-7 lifetime at the majors.
Now he joins his father and coach Bryan in the second week club at Wimbledon. His dad made the round of 16 in 1994. 30 years later it’s Shelton’s turn to shine.
“We’re back, big dog,” Shelton told his dad after the in, during his on court interview.
The former NCAA champion’s next task will be taller than the previous three. He’ll be up against World No.1 Jannik Sinner on Sunday, the pair meeting for the fourth time, and for the first time on grass.
“I’m happy with where I’ve gotten so far but I’m definitely not satisfied,” Shelton told the crowd. “I think the pinnacle of tennis is is facing the No 1 in the world at Wimbledon, probably on Centre Court, so I’m very excited and ready to get after it.”
After 13 hours and 23 minutes of grinding it out on the grass, Shelton will need to be back on court without a day off to try to tackle one of the biggest challenges in the men’s game. He’s 1-2 lifetime against Sinner.
Does it bother him that he’s had to spend so much time on court and had so little time to rest during Wimbledon’s first week?
Far from it, Shelton is just happy to be in the mix and chasing his dreams at SW19.
"I think it was nice to have a little rain yesterday to give me another day's rest," he said. "Just happy to be out here competing. It's Wimbledon, there's nowhere better in the world to be playing tennis, so it's hard to be tired when you're out here."