“I’ve answered that probably a hundred and fifty thousand times”: Ben Shelton on navigating the same questions year after year

Ben Shelton gave a relaxed interview following his elimination at the Australian Open, where he reached the quarter-finals before being knocked out by two-time defending champion Jannik Sinner in straight sets.

The 23-year-old player was the last American hope in the tournament, in what was his third appearance at the quarter-final stage in Melbourne. Shelton was defending the semi-final points he had achieved in 2025, and although his run to the last eight will cause him to lose ranking points — and drop a couple of positions — he will remain safely inside the Top 10 as World No. 9.

In just a few years, Shelton has established himself as one of the most prominent figures on the ATP Tour and is seen as one of the few players capable of genuinely challenging the dominance of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. Despite his recent defeat to the Italian, the American was one of the most in-demand players for the media during his weeks in Melbourne.

Following his elimination from the first major of the year, Shelton appeared on the ‘Pod Laver Arena’ — the official Australian Open podcast, which has already featured several of the tournament’s biggest stars. One of the topics addressed was the repetitive questions from the press, where he acknowledged that throughout his years on Tour, one of the most common questions concerns his relationship with his father — and coach — Bryan Shelton.

“The question I actually haven’t gotten much today—maybe once—is, ‘What’s the relationship like with you and your dad?’” he said after attending his press conference. “I’ve answered that probably a hundred and fifty thousand times. He’s been on tour with me for four years, and I answer that question every tournament.”

The 2025 Canadian Open champion spent many years in his youth practising American football from a very young age. It was not until he turned 12 that he began playing tennis, coached by his father, who at the time was a college tennis coach.

“I grew up playing American football. That would be it,” Shelton said when asked which other sport he would practise today if it were not for tennis. “I still follow the NFL, but I’m not a diehard fan. My favourite player retired years ago — Calvin Johnson,” he added, referring to the wide receiver who played nine seasons for the Detroit Lions.

“Yeah, that was my team forever — Detroit,” the 23-year-old player added. “I was the biggest fan when they were terrible, and now they’re great, but I haven’t really been following closely. It doesn’t feel right to jump on the bandwagon, but I was there when they were bad.”

The American arrived in Melbourne just a few days before the start of the tournament — unlike other players who took a full week, or even longer, to adapt to the conditions. However, Shelton opted to play the week before at the ASB Classic in Auckland, which was his only preparatory tournament for the Australian Open, and where he did not debut until January 13.

Shelton explained that although in previous years he has played tournaments during the first week of the season — such as Brisbane or Adelaide — for him it is better to take extra time to remain in the United States and spend the end-of-year holidays with his family.

“I’ve done Brisbane before, I’ve done Adelaide before, but I like being home for Christmas and New Year’s. You have to leave in December to get here in time, so I was home until January 6th. Auckland’s on the way here,” Shelton said. “You get used to it. It’s all about the plane ride — timing sleep. If I land in the morning and sleep the whole flight, like that 12-hour flight, that’s better sleep than I’d ever get.”

The American acknowledged that his time in Australia was spent mainly inside the hotel, attending his training sessions and tournament commitments, meaning he did not have the opportunity to explore much of the Australian cities.

“I stay low-key. I don’t leave the hotel much. Mostly tennis,” he said. “There are certain cities where a lot’s going on, but I tend to get drained.”

Shelton will now return to North America for his next tournaments, where he is scheduled to compete at the Dallas Open starting on February 9 — a tournament where he will be the second seed and will join players such as Taylor Fritz, Casper Ruud and Tommy Paul. Two weeks later, he will travel to Acapulco, the final tournament before returning to the United States for the Sunshine Double, with Indian Wells and the Miami Open as major targets — the first Masters 1000 events of the season.