"Not even top three in the United States": Ben Shelton shocked by popularity of tennis worldwide

Ben Shelton completed an outstanding 2023 season, finishing the year at world No.17. Just a year ago, Shelton had never played a professional tournament outside his country, and at the beginning of the season, he became one of the young revelations by reaching the quarterfinals of the Australian Open.

The 21-year-old youngster will start the year at the ATP 250 Brisbane Open (third seed) and Auckland Open (first seed). Both tournaments will serve as his preparation for the Aussie Open, and he will have the mission of defending the significant points he earned in the first Grand Slam of the year.

He expressed his surprise at encountering so many passionate tennis fans around the world, as tennis is not among the top three sports in the United States. "I think one of the biggest surprises for me is how huge tennis is overseas. It’s not even one of the top three sports in the United States," the young American tennis player said.

Shelton also thanked the support he has received worldwide, especially in Australia: "the Australian people really started to cheer for me as one of their own as I went deeper and deeper in the tournament. It’s crazy. I am so far from home, but people know how I am," he added.

The North American started the tournament with a hard-fought victory against Chinese player Zhang Zhizhen, which extended to the fifth-set tie-break (4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 2-6, 7-6). In the second round, he faced Chilean Nicolas Jarry and did not drop a set to secure his second victory in Melbourne with scores of 7-6, 7-6, 7-5.

The third round saw a match against Alexei Popyrin, one of the last local hopes at that stage of the tournament, and once again, he secured a win without too much trouble (6-3, 7-6, 6-4). The round of 16 against J.J. Wolf was decided in 5 sets, with three of them reaching the tie-break, but ultimately, Shelton claimed the victory (6-7, 6-2, 6-7, 7-6, 6-2).

Shelton's journey came to an end against Tommy Paul, another surprise contender to reach the best eight of the tournament without being seeded. Paul showed his prowess and eliminated the prominent Shelton (7-6, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4), reaching the semifinals of the Aussie Open.