"I just wanted to play other sports": Ben Shelton initially wasn't drawn to tennis with first pro match being a turning point

Ben Shelton revealed that he initially didn't like playing tennis too much but changed his mind to become a professional.

The world No. 19 was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the Masters 1000 Shanghai Open last week, facing his compatriot Sebastian Korda in a closely contested match that was decided in the third-set tie-break. Korda won 6-7(10), 6-2, 7-6(6), securing a spot in the semifinals.

Despite the loss, Shelton also took home an impressive victory, this time in the third-set tie-break, against world No. 4 Jannik Sinner. He won 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(5). This marked his first win against a top-10 player. The young American has been having a dream season in 2023.

At just 21 years old, Shelton celebrated his birthday a week ago. This year, he is competing in tournaments outside the United States for the first time. He reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open and the semifinals of the US Open, demonstrating his immense potential to be one of the best players for the future.

However, Shelton didn't always want to be a tennis player. He mentioned that it wasn't until he achieved his first professional victory that he decided he wanted to make tennis a professional career:

“I think my first memory is being a really young kid and my parents started me out with a tennis racket and a balloon to practice tennis for the first time. I didn’t love tennis at the start and I didn’t want to be a part of it,” he said about his professional career.

“I just wanted to play other sports. But I got back to it. I think the moment I realized that I wanted to a be a tennis player is probably the first professional match I won in Illinois,” Shelton added in ATP's latest tennis podcast.