"I woke up every morning feeling like I couldn't even stand, completely drained" - Flu derailed Ben Shelton's short-lived Indian Wells campaign

Illness struck at a crucial and devastating time for Ben Shelton, not allowing him to play his best stuff at Indian Wells as he suffered a third round defeat to Learner Tien. He touched on the harrowing experience when under the weather, as he looks forward to getting back in form at the Miami Open.

This frustrating setback came in the form of the flu, something that the American was hit hard by. It was his first tournament after winning the Dallas Open, surviving multiple match points against Taylor Fritz to pick up his first title of 2026. He was hoping to continue that form as he looked up the rankings with a huge haul of points on offer in California.

However, he was not able to capitalise. He left it late to fend off Reilly Opelka in a closely fought match. He then faced off against another American, this time in the form of Tien, one of the hottest prospects in the sport. After getting the scoreline level at 1-1, Shelton could not do anything about Tien racing clear and booking his spot in the next round. Shelton was not able to back up the quarterfinal display from last year as he looks to reset at the Miami Open.

First off, he will be hoping to get over the bout of flu collected. It was not a nice experience for the 23-year-old, who was knackered and fatigued. "I woke up every morning feeling like I couldn't even stand, completely drained," Shelton said ahead of the Miami Open.

The tournament in Florida has not been happy hunting ground for Shelton in recent times. The American has picked up just one win in three participations between 2023 and 2025. That came in 2024, where he was dumped out in the third round by an improving Lorenzo Musetti.

A big factor for this was his distaste for fast courts as he started to break through into the top of tennis. This is an issue in Miami, with the courts known for being quite fast. Over the years, he has learnt to set his feelings aside and work on adapting his game to best fit whatever condition he is met with.

"Early in my career, I didn't like fast courts; I felt like I didn't have time to develop my game," he commented. "But over time, I've grown more comfortable with the low bounce and court speed. I hope to go deep here because I think the conditions suit me perfectly."

Now, the conditions have turned more in his favour. He will be truly hoping to capitalise on this golden opportunity lying ahead for him as the tennis roadshow plays its last big hardcourt tournament for a period of time. The switch to clay is set to commence very soon as the majority of the attention will be focused on the Masters 1000 events being competed in Europe ahead of Roland Garros.

Shelton will look to end this period with a bang. He will commence a fourth Miami Open against the winner of Matteo Arnaldi and Alexander Shevchenko.