TENNIS
Ben Shelton wants to keep surprising at the Laver Cup
The young American, who became the standout player in the US Open, hopes to keep playing at a high level for Team World.
Besides Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz, Ben Shelton stands out as the man of the moment in the men’s tennis category.
The 20-year-old’s performances at the US Open, where he got to the semifinals, surprised everyone. He was known to have great potential despite his youth, but probably nobody expected him to have such a good tournament.
The reason why he wasn’t among the dark horses in the fourth and last Grand Slam event of the year is that he hadn’t had a good year till then, being only able to win back-to-back games in May since the Australian Open.
But, as it happened to Cori Gauff before the US Open, Shelton seems to have broken the barrier from being a promising player to becoming a star and he will probably have the confidence he lacked during the season.
Excited for his Laver Cup debut
Shelton, who also did well in the Australian Open -where he got to the quarterfinals- is now focused on the upcoming Laver Cup. The event, founded in 2017, is an international indoor hard-court men’s team tournament between Team Europe and Team World.
“I’m excited for the opportunity to play the Laver Cup”, he said after losing to Djokovic in the US Open semifinals.
The Atlanta-bred talent admitted he was happy to perform at a higher level than many expected and hopes to keep impressing tennis fans in Vancouver:
“Coming into the US Open it was like, ‘OK, I really have something to prove’. I wanted to show people that maybe I deserved to be on the team or the people who said that I didn’t, kind of prove them wrong. I had a pretty good run here, and I’m happy that I was able to prove a few people wrong”.
Shelton will play alongside Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe, and Tommy Paul on Team World, coached by John McEnroe. They will try to defend the title after winning it for the first time in 2022.
“I’m pretty pumped to be in the team atmosphere. I love those types of competitions. First team tournament that I’ll be a part of since I left college”, he added.
Felix Auger-Aliassime, Francisco Cerúndolo, Milos Raonic (alternate), and Christopher Eubanks (alternate) will also be a part of this edition’s Team World.