Super Shelton revelling in first time outside US in run to Australian Open Quarter-Finals: “I got on the plane with no expectations”

Ben Shelton entered the Australian Open with just one win away from his country, achieved a week earlier in Auckland.

The 20-year-old had already acknowledged that he had never been outside his country, and now he added that the time difference and the distance made him not adapt well to the conditions:

“I got on the plane with no expectations.

“I know that it’s very hard to adjust to Australia from the United States just with the jetlag, time change and everything.”

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“But I think it has helped me a little bit having that expectation or the feeling that I have to perform, but being able to just go out there, be myself and play free.”

Just a few months ago, Shelton was playing university tennis, and his rapid explosion of professionalism has forced him to continue his education through a distance program, for which he has had to reconcile classes with the Australian Open.

“I feel great. It’s been a pretty special week for me,”

“Definitely a lot on my plate, playing my first Grand Slam outside of the United States, starting school this week. It’s been a lot. But I’m really enjoying it so far.

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“Each match that I’ve won here has felt the same. It’s a mixture of joy, relief. I just have that feeling of ecstasy. When the last ball lands, I did it. To be able to do that on this stage four times in a row, that feeling over and over again, has been pretty cool.”

In his last match, against J.J. Wolf, the young-star looked much better physically than his compatriot during the last set, in this regard Shelton commented that: "I think I'm in a pretty good place physically,"

“I think that since the last Grand Slam I played, in the US Open, where I was really struggling, five sets in the heat, I barely survived. My fitness wasn’t near what I needed it to be. So I’ve worked really hard these past five or six months to get to where I want to be.”

With his impressive performance, Shelton has already become the youngest American player to reach the AO Round of 16 (20 years, 3 months), surpassing Andy Roddick who held the record since 2003 (20 years, 4 months). Now he will compete with his compatriot Tommy Paul to reach the semifinals.