Ben Shelton bested Stan Wawrinka in a battle of two generations at the 2024 Swiss Indoors in Basel.
The young American player became a regular contender across all tournaments on the ATP Tour in 2024. In 2023, there weren't many expectations when it came to his results, given that he first left the United States to compete at the Australian Open and had never played on the red clay before.
Last year, he gathered plenty of experience, winning nearly 30 Tour-level matches and competing on all surfaces and in many different countries. This year, he returned as a much more experienced player, and he's about to hit 40 wins in a season.
He got closer to that mark with a win over a player who experienced all of that but almost 20 times in his career. Wawrinka is not just the oldest tennis player in the Top 200; he's the oldest player in the ATP Rankings, and in recent weeks, he found some inspired level.
He reached the semi-finals at the Stockholm Open and dismissed any talks about a possible retirement. He doesn't feel like retiring, and his match against the 22-year-old American player at the ATP 500 event in Basel certainly proved that he still has the level necessary to compete.
In the first round, Wawrinka outplayed Adrian Mannarino, winning 6-3, 3-6, 7-5, while Shelton had to beat Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-3, 6-4, and overcome a controversy that overshadowed the match.
He forgot that by the time his match against the Swiss veteran rolled around, but still, he was the player closer to losing the opening set. Wawrinka had two break points in the seventh and one more in the ninth game of the first set.
He couldn't use any of those break chances, and it would come back to haunt him. The set reached a tie-break, and Shelton was the better player in it, winning 7-2 to steal the opening set of the match.
In the second set, the American player faced two more break points, this time in the eighth game of the match. Again, he could save both, and again, Wawrinka could bemoan missing out on those chances.
Three games later, he faced his first break point of the match, and he couldn't save it, as Shelton found an inspired level late in the match, winning 12 of the last 13 points to win the match 7-6(2), 7-5, and set up a quarter-final meeting with the first-seeded Andrey Rublev.
Following the win, the 22-year-old paid great respect to his 17 years older. He revealed that they talked prior to the match, joking that Wawrinka has been competing for as long as Shelton has lived.
"We were joking in the locker room before the match that he’s been on tour as much as I’ve lived. He’s got a lot of experience and a lot of love around the world. He’s done incredible things for our sport. Especially here in Switzerland. You can tell with the fan support today."
The American player, who reached his 13th Tour-level quarter-final, also joked that he probably won't be around at 39, like Wawrinka is.
"I had to smile at times today because obviously it’s against me but it’s so cool to see a country and tournament get behind a guy like that who’s been such an icon. Shout out to Stan. I don’t think I’m still gonna be out here winning matches at 39."
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