Ben Shelton has been going from strength to strength this season. There’s nothing this young, 22-year-old, 6’4″ American talent can’t do, thanks to his speedy, lethal serves and strong forehand game. Following his impressive campaign on grass a few weeks back at the All England Club, the young American is showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon. In fact, he’s just upped his level at the ongoing home event in Washington D.C. And he just outplayed his own compatriot and dear friend to seal a semifinal spot this weekend. The battle wasn’t easy, though. Hence, it called for a special celebration, too. His girlfriend and soccer icon Trinity Rodman just unveiled the young lad’s “crazy” festivities.
In an all-American matchup on a late Friday evening, Shelton faced Frances Tiafoe on the Stadium Court. It was their fourth ATP meeting with Shelton already leading the H2H tally 2-1. After the match, it stretched to 3-1, as the 2025 Australian Open semifinalist overcame Tiafoe in a crunch fight, with the intense first set going into a tie-break. Shelton came out victorious before he wrapped the match with a final score line of 7-6(2), 6-4 in an hour, 57 minutes, and 23 seconds.
Well, such intense performance deserved an intense meal as well. And Shelton made it evident as he was seen celebrating the moment with his girlfriend late at night after entering the last four of the Citi Open. Rodman took to her Instagram and shared a picture of Shelton surrounded by food, and what seemed like half a dozen different dips. Trinity wrote, “Post match meal go crazy”
Tennis – Laver Cup – Uber Arena, Berlin, Germany – September 19, 2024 Team World’s Frances Tiafoe and Ben Shelton during practice REUTERS/Annegret Hilse
Seems like Shelton was trying to get full before entering his next battle against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. But that didn’t mean Shelton forgot to give a shout-out to his friend and compatriot after their match. After all, the 22-year-old is as hearty as the meals he takes.
“We know tennis is a long journey. We’re going to play each other a bunch of times. Especially, we’ve already played on the hard courts, we’ve already played twice at the US Open, and he beat me the most recent time. It’s tough not to cheer for a guy like that,” he said as reported by the Citi Open’s website on July 26.
And now that he is in the semi-finals, he is one step closer to an impressive achievement.
Ben Shelton on his way to a remarkable ATP feat
Ben Shelton is yet to win a single title this season. His best run was reaching the final at the BMW Open a few months back. Unfortunately, he missed out on the trophy as Alexander Zverev bested him on the clay court in Munich.
But this week in Washington D.C., after braving both Tiafoe and a bug, Shelton’s looking like a potential winner. On his favorite hard court, he’s trying to win his first trophy of the year. And as he keeps racking up victories, he’ll only get closer to an important milestone.
For the uninitiated, Shelton’s just three wins away from his 100 tour-level career victories. Winning the semifinal and then the final, too, will propel him to the figure of 99.
Simply put, he will look to make it quick while also emerging victorious at the Citi Open. Although he had reached the semi-final of the event last year as well, he has never made it to the summit clash. Well, one thing is for sure. It’s just a matter of time before Shelton reaches 100 wins.
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