Pam Shriver lauded the emergence of Ben Shelton, Carlos Alcaraz, and Coco Gauff as the outstanding trio of their respective age groups.
The future of men's and women's tennis appears to be in safe hands thanks to the limitless potential of Shelton and Alcaraz on the ATP and young phenom Gauff on the WTA.
The three players are only separated by a one-year gap in age, prompting Shriver to describe them as the leaders of the 19, 20, and 21-year-old age groups.
20-year-old Carlos Alcaraz is the first player born after the 1990s to win multiple Slams. In addition, he is the youngest year-end ATP No. 1 in history. The Spaniard's stunning success in the early phase of his career has left tennis fans marveling at his extraordinary talent. Alcaraz has earned glowing praise from the greats of the game and has earned the respect of his peers.
Gauff, 19, won her maiden Grand Slam title at last month's US Open in style, beating World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the final. It was the crowning moment of a near-perfect US swing in which Gauff collected titles at the 500 and 1000 levels for the very first time.
Gauff's immense progress was reflected in the rankings. She rose to a career-high World No. 3, becoming USA's top-ranked player across both tours. Her compatriot Ben Shelton has been tearing it up in his first full season on the ATP Tour.
Shelton turned 21 this month, and he's been a breath of fresh air, bringing gusto and enthusiasm, which is to be expected for a young player who left the doors of full-time education to pursue a career in tennis in late 2022. Shriver spoke highly of those three during a recent episode of Inside-In podcast.
"I think Ben Shelton along with Carlos Alcaraz and Coco Gauff lead the charge among 19, 20, 21-year-old age group that's and that's pretty special."
Shriver tips Shelton to achieve greater success in the future, provided he stays healthy. The 61-year-old pundit also touched on Shelton's most recent contentious celebration at the US Open, which Shriver felt was "cool of tennis" when an elite champion like Novak Djokovic mimicked the celebration to fuel the trash talk narrative.
"It's a combination of young fresh face and the bold personality you know. He was part of one of the most controversial moments, a couple of them at the US Open when he hung up, when he answered the phone call against Tiafoe and then Djokovic kind of turned the tables and did the same thing and but it was it's kind of like cool for tennis to be like in the trash talking elite of athletes, why not?"
"I think now Shelton's going to be ready to keep marching along assuming he stays healthy which is always the million-dollar question."
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