Ben Shelton started as a player who didn't mind making a show out of his matches, but more recently, he's been focusing on winning them.
The young American came through the tennis ranks as a player similar in personality to Nick Kyrgios, Gael Monfils, and Frances Tiafoe. They were all players who didn't mind making a show out of their matches.
Coming from college tennis, which can be mayhem at times, Shelton certainly didn't mind it either. Last year's US Open semi-final against Novak Djokovic certainly proved that, not only because Shelton really brought the crowd into the match but also because Djokovic once again embraced the 'villain' role.
The player having the last laugh was Djokvoic, and he certainly knew how to celebrate it. Shelton had a signature match-win celebration last year, which involved hanging up the phone after he won the match.
It became a viral celebration copied across several sports, even though the young American player admitted he didn't come up with it. Still, Djokovic celebrated winning the match against Shelton with that very celebration.
As a result, Shelton gave him an interesting stare after the match. His father, Bryan, later told the media Djokovic wanted to mock him. Since then, Shelton has played down his showman personality. He was mostly focused on getting the job done, which was to win the match.
It worked out well for him, as he had a really strong finish to the year, winning the Japan Open in Tokyo, among other achievements. After his second-round win at the 2024 US Open, he expanded on maturing as a player this year.
"Yeah, I think that was just kind of me being myself. Me giving some shout-outs to my friends. I think that it's something that I guess wasn't taken the way that I wanted it to be, but I don't think it deterred me from being who I am."
"I'm always going to be somebody who doesn't back away from a challenge or get quiet when I get pressed. That's just not the type of person I am. You've got to pick your battles, you know, choose your moments to really get loud."
Many players went through this process, even greats like Djokovic. In the early days, the Serbian impersonated his fellow players, but he stopped doing that fairly quickly.
"Choose your moments when you want to do certain things. But I'm not somebody who thinks about, ‘oh, I'm going to do this celebration or, oh, I'm going to do this at this moment.’ It's just kind of spontaneous."
"It's what the moment brings, and using up too much energy at certain times can be a negative thing. One thing that l've learned is at the Grand Slams being fresh in week 2 is really, really important."
Some other players also needed time to mature, and it's just a process most players go through. The difference is in the details, but those don't matter much. However, Shelton has gained a lot of experience in the past years due to various experiences.
"You know, playing three five-set matches in a row in Wimbledon off rain delays, playing doubles as well, you learn a lot from these experiences."
"Okay, when the US Open comes, maybe I'm not going to play doubles. Okay, I got through my first two rounds in straight sets, and I really stayed focused rather than having up and downs, emotionally being all over the place."
"So I think it's a learning process for me. 's the evolution of Ben Shelton. Not that anything that I did last year was a bad thing or a negative. It was such a cool experience for me, and it was just kind of like my first big moment on a big stage."