After winning his maiden trophy at the 2023 Japan Open, Ben Shelton will have a new career high on Monday, October 23rd.
Shelton opened this year with some incredible performances Down Under, which he didn't quite follow up with much for a while. He played fine tennis during the clay season but didn't win too many matches, and it didn't look that much better on grass, either.
Even the start of the US Open season didn't look too well for him, but he caught fire before the US Open, where he made it to the semi-finals, losing to Novak Djokovic eventually.
He followed that up with some amazing performances in Asia, where he made it to the Shanghai Masters semi-final. That run allowed him to secure a new career-high ranking after ensuring a Top 20 ranking at the US Open.
Things looked even better in Tokyo, where he made it to the final and beat Aslan Karatsev to win his maiden ATP trophy. That win now pushes him to a new career high ranking, which he'll have on Monday, October 23rd.
Shelton will become world number 14 after this most recent run which is incredible. We're still not a full year away since he made his Top 100 debut in the last week of last year's season.
Shelton now even has a chance to find himself in Turin at the 2023 ATP Finals, but he'll need a tremendous run in both Vienna and Paris to make it happen. It will be tough as he faces Jannik Sinner in the Austrian capital, but certainly not impossible for the American.
Very few players are playing on his level right now, and he's full of confidence after this most recent run. It was an incredible year for Shelton, who might even finish in the Top 10. Who saw that coming?
