Ben Shelton Is Embracing the Spotlight

Ben Shelton just made his top 10 debut—but he isn't dwelling on it the milestone too much. “It means a lot,” he tells T&C a week before Wimbledon, before quickly clarifying, “I have bigger goals in the game. It's just a stop along the way.”

Shelton, who is just 22 years old, continues, “I feel that I've got as far as I have not really thinking about rankings or results, but just the process, the developmental process and what gets me to a place where I can play my best tennis and become a complete player. That's what I keep striving towards. It's nice to see some of that work pay off, but for me, I just want to keep getting better.”

Shelton joins fellow Americans Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul near the top of the rankings, marking the first time three American men have been ranked in the top 10 men's singles players in the world since 2006, when Andy Roddick, James Blake, and Andre Agassi were dominating. “It's a big push that America has made in tennis and all of us kind of keep pushing each other to do better, play better,” Shelton says. “One guy has a good week, another guy backed it up with a different good week—that's how the healthy competition is, and what makes country really grow in terms of athletics.”

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He adds, “We're all good friends. We all root for each other, know each other well, and I think that we see that there's something special going on and it excites all of us.” At the Mallorca Open—his last grass court tune-up tournament before Wimbledon—Shelton spoke with Town & Country about his ideal crowds, looking ahead to the U.S. Open, and his new relationship with U.S. Women's National Soccer Team star Trinity Rodman.

How are you feeling heading into Wimbledon?

I feel great. The grass season is super short and it's tough to feel amazing right away, so to be able to already played four matches and get at least one more here, going to Wimbledon, it feels nice in a good place with my game. I'm super excited. The biggest tournaments are my favorite tournaments. I love Wimbledon, I love all the [Grand] Slams, and it's where I play my best for sure.

How do you switch your game from clay to grass so quickly?

Shelton lost in the French Open in the fourth round to eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz. ALAIN JOCARD - Getty Images

Yeah, it's tough. Obviously there are differences, but similarities as well. For me, it's the learning the movement patterns; when to slide, when not to slide; how to stand, balance, and not fall; and playing the right shot at the right time. It's different challenges, but adaptation is the most important piece on both the services because it's not hardcore. You don't get perfect bounces and there's a lot more variables. So I think that being good at adapting and finding ways to win when you're not comfortable is really important on these surfaces.

The Wimbledon crowd is famously a bit more reserved. How does that impact you?

For the most part, they're more reserved. The rowdier people are usually at my matches, so I don't feel too big of a difference to be honest. I feel like I've had great energy, great crowd of energy there. Yes, they're a little bit more polite. They're not screaming and hollering, but they'll support the tennis for sure, and they have passion for the sport.

What's your ideal crowd?

My ideal crowd is…Go to the U.S. Open every year. Watch any American playing, and that's kind of my ideal crowd.

At Wimbledon, it's a very starry crowd, there are royals and celebrities. Do you ever think about that—that princesses are watching you play?

The Princess of Wales is a regular attendee at Centre Court. ADRIAN DENNIS - Getty Images

To be honest, no. I mean, yeah, I guess you do have big tournaments, have celebrities in the crowd. I don't notice 'em until after. I think it's cool how big tennis is right now, how interested you are and the people who come and watch it. But after playing on Arthur Ashe a few times and having some runs at the U.S. Open, the star power they have at that tournament, nothing really compares.

Who would be your dream attendee at one of your matches?

Michael Jordan would be pretty sick, or Tiger Woods would be really cool. Two greatest icons in sports. I like Damson Idris, he is in the new F1 movie. I think he's a great actor. It would be cool to see him there—maybe Central C [Centre Court] at Wimbledon. Those are my short list.

Also cheering you on recently has been Trinity Rodman. How have you navigated your new relationship in the spotlight?

The spotlight or attention, it seems to always to be on. Regardless of what I'm doing there will be someone talking about me or posting about me, and it's just the way life is these days. Obviously that's all positive stuff, so it is great. It's been cool to get to know someone who goes through a lot of the same things in the spotlight, the media attention, playing for the United States, and the contrast between soccer and tennis and the similarities of both being professional athletes.

Trinity Rodman applauds Shelton during the Munich Open in April picture alliance - Getty Images

She's actually here in Mallorca with me right now, and she'll be at Wimbledon as well. She's injured right now; she's doing her rehab. She's been able to do her rehab and bring her physical therapist on the road a little bit and come to a couple of my tournaments—because with our normal schedules, when she's playing and I'm playing, we won't be able to see each other compete much.

Trinity is also such a remarkable athlete. Have you learned anything from her that you've brought into your own training—or have you trained together yet?

Rodman during the 2024 Paris Olympics, where the USWNT went on to win gold. Brad Smith/ISI - Getty ImagesAdvertisementAdvertisement#«R2qekkr8lb2m7nfddbH1» iframe AdvertisementAdvertisement#«R4qekkr8lb2m7nfddbH1» iframe

No, we haven't really been training together. Obviously she's coming back from injury, so it's been light. We might go a soccer field today and have a little PK shootout. We've been talking about it for a while, so we'll see what happens. I'll get back to you. But yeah, it's been fun.

Did you play soccer growing up?

I mean, I played a couple years, four or five years when I was really young. My parents had me play every sport. She is semi-impressed with my skills, she thought it would've been a lot worse than I am. So that's been pretty good. I'm just glad that I don't look like a fool out there. And for not playing much tennis, she's very good at tennis.

I didn't specialize [in tennis] from a young age, so I feel like I have a semi-good ability to play a lot of sports. That was the best thing for me to develop my athleticism. Specializing really early in this sport can leave kids burnt out, for sure. I feel like I've just got started [in tennis], even though I've been doing it for a while, because I had all those other sports.

Being both professional athletes, how do you navigate that long distance relationship?

It has its challenges, but it's definitely worth it. It's not something that we're not used to—it's been the story of our lives, especially me being on the road all the time. It's just normal life stuff.

How does that normalize for you?

I mean, it doesn't. There are times that you want to be at home, there are times that you wish the camera guy would just get out of your face in certain moments. But, I feel like we get rewarded really well for playing a sport. That's my job: I get to travel the world, see a lot of cool places, different cultures and play sport, make money doing it. So honestly, it'd be tough to complain about that lifestyle.

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It's a short, short window that you have play and get the most out of it—get the most out of yourself that you can. I want to know when I'm done that I didn't leave anything on the table, that I exhausted every option and I did my best in the end, became the best version for myself. I have a lot of time, hopefully, knock on wood, God willing, the rest of my life to do what I want and be at home or not traveling, offline all the time. So I'm enjoying this for sure.

Looking ahead, the U.S. Open just announced their new mixed doubles tournament and I saw you're playing with Taylor Townsend. How are you feeling about the change and format and teaming up with Taylor again?

Townsend and Shelton (on left) played together in the 2023 U.S. Open mixed doubles tournament. Al Bello - Getty Images

It was a last-second decision, to be honest. I wasn't sure that I wanted to play, just because the week before the U.S. Open is a busy week. It's really tough. But the idea excited me for sure, and when I saw it started to fill up with all the top players, I was like, “It'd be a shame if I wasn't a part of it.” I made the semis in mixed doubles there with Taylor two years ago. I forgot when it was that they needed an answer by, but the night before I FaceTimed her and I was like, “We're playing mixed at the open, right?” And she was like, “Yeah, I know.” For me, I think she's the best doubles player on the women's side. I think we have a good shot. We'll see what happens.

Beyond Wimbledon, what are you looking forward to?

Shelton broke through at the 2023 U.S. Open. Elsa - Getty Images

The U.S. Open—that's the biggest one of the year for me. I want to play my best. I want to be sharp, I want to be in shape, give myself the best opportunity to go as deep as I can. It's my favorite tournament. You travel the world, you go to all these places throughout the year, and for me, that's the capital.

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