"I try and work with my assets and be unique": Ben Shelton takes inspiration from Rafael Nadal but aims to blaze his own trail

Ben Shelton revealed that on the court, he draws inspiration from Rafael Nadal, especially for his fighting spirit, but he works on developing his own style. The American highlighted the similarity with Nadal being left-handed but clarified that he doesn't try to replicate everything the 22-times Grand Slam champion does.

The young American emerged as one of the revelations of the season, finishing the year as world No. 17, despite starting the year at No. 96. Shelton clinched his first title at the Japan Open and reached the quarterfinals at the Australian Open and the semifinals at the US Open.

Shelton didn't progress beyond the second round of any ATP Tour event from January at the Aussie Open until September at the US Open. Although his season wasn't entirely consistent, Shelton demonstrated that he is ready for the big stage, particularly with strong performances in Grand Slam events, allowing him to finish the year in the top-20, along with securing the ATP 500 Tokyo Open trophy.

The American recently spoke in an interview with On-running.com and expressed his admiration for the 14-times French Open champion Rafa Nadal: "I try to be unique with my playing style and do things other players aren’t,' said Shelton, as per On-running.com. 'I've taken a few things from Nadal because he's left-handed, but I try to work with my assets and be unique."

The interviewer asked if he, like Nadal, has rituals or superstitions, Shelton responded: 'I’m not a superstitious ritual guy. My warm-ups vary. I eat different things. I do like to listen to aggressive hip-hop to hype myself up before I go on court, but it just comes down to hard work.'

The 20-year-old will kick off his season at the Brisbane Open, where he'll be the third seed, sharing the draw with Nadal, who will make his official return at the tournament. Shelton plans to play the following week at the Auckland Open, where he'll be the first seed, and then compete in the Australian Open, where he is the 17th seed.