'He's Like Kyrgios, He Brings Something Different': Shelton Praised For On-Court Antics
ATP
Darren Cahill praised Ben Shelton for bringing new energy to the ATP Tour. The Australian coach even compared him to Nick Kyrgios.
The most hardcore tennis fans likely knew about Shelton already during his college years. Those who follow the ATP Challenger Tour probably noticed him in 2022, and the vast majority of tennis fans got to know Shelton in 2023.
He first reached the Australian Open quarter-final before playing also in the US Open semi-final. He lost that match to Novak Djokovic but fought hard for every point.
Shelton's two best results this year came at the Grand Slam level, which was impressive for such an inexperienced player. But the American player doesn't bring only solid tennis, but also a certain level of show to his matches.
That reminded coach Darren Cahill of Nick Kyrgios. He talked about that during a recent episode of the Advantage Connors Podcast.
"He's like Kyrgios, you like Kyrgios, you hate him, I don't care. On the tour, he brings something different, and people will go out and buy a ticket and watch these guys play. And Ben brings a real joy in what he's doing on the court, he's not scared, he doesn't care who he is playing."
"I love him, I think the fact that Novak took him up a little bit (for his celebrations) was awesome. You can't have robots on tour, you can't have no-personality's on tour."
Cahill didn't only talk about Shelton's personality but also the American player's tennis. He was quite impressed with the match Shelton played against Djokovic.
"Incredibly brave in the big moments, he was certainly playing to the crowd, enjoying the crowd. Again, you need to put those results week after week to be a factor in the Top 10. I think Ben is so young, maybe he's not used to it, maybe a little bit too many expectations came onto his shoulders after the Australian Open."
"Now we're going to see Ben consistently improve every week. I'm not saying he's gonna race into the top 5, I think eventually he's a definite top 10 player."
