Ben Shelton is one of several American players who opted to skip the 2024 Paris Olympics despite a strong desire to play and represent his country, and he explained why he did so.
Quite a few notable players, like Ben Shelton, Sebastian Korda, and Frances Tiafoe, decided to skip the Olympic Games in Paris, which was a bit of a surprise. There is generally a lot of competition for the US spots at the Olympics, and it's a privilege to represent at the event.
Americans are generally very patriotic, which is true for Shelton as well. The American has a really strong desire to represent his country, especially at the Olympics, but he wasn't a fan of how it all unfolded this year.
Like his compatriot Korda, Shelton wasn't a fan of the frequent surface changes because, in a short time, a player had to go from clay to grass to clay and then back to hard courts for the US Open swing.
After a long season and many weeks on the ATP Tour, it didn't sound like a smart idea to Shelton. He has seen how players get injured, and he really doesn't want to become part of that statistic.
Therefore, for him, it was mostly prioritizing his career and his health long-term over his desire to represent the United States, regardless of how strong it really is, as he explained ahead of the 2024 Citi Open in Washington.
"Our season is really long. See a lot of people getting injured at this time of year, a lot of guys pulling out of the Olympics. They went and tried to play but weren't ready."
"You go from clay to grass to clay to hard in a month and a half, you fly straight to Canada after the Olympics to then get ready for the US Open, play three more massive events, I didn't think that was the right thing for me to do this year."
Shelton will have plenty of chances to play for the US at the Olympics in the future. The Games come around only every four years, but the next Olympics will be held in Los Angeles on US soil on hard courts, and that's a far more enticing prospect for the American.
Like a couple of his competitors, he's eyeing that 2028 edition, hoping to find himself there, but the competition will be fierce. Only the four best Americans will have a chance to play there, and Shelton will hope to be one of those.
"Obviously I would love to play for my country in the future. I think that is something that would be really cool for me. I have tons of friends in the Olympics in different sports."
"Yeah, it's a bucket list thing for me. I'm going to try to hard to qualify for L.A. in 2028. I'm happy with the decision I made. Certainly it was a difficult one. I think for preparation for the US Open, the rest of the year, it's the right decision for me."
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