"There’s a lot to build off this year, and that’s what I’m hoping to do": Ben Shelton looks ahead to the 2026 season

Ben Shelton starts a new season confident after his growth in 2025 – reaching the top-10 for the first time and winning the most important title of his career at the Canadian Open, his first Masters 1000. The American now holds the position of American No. 1 and hopes to start the season with a win at the ASB Classic.

This time, Shelton entered his first tournament of the year as the first seed and received a first-round bye, so he will have to wait a couple of days before returning to the court. The world No. 8 spoke about his progress from last season: “I thought it was a great stepping stone for me. I thought there were so many things I improved on in 2025 versus 2024.”

For Shelton, it was a year in which he reached the Australian Open semifinals, totaled 13 wins in Grand Slam tournaments – more than any other year of his career – and 15 in Masters 1000 events, also surpassing his results from previous years. He ended the year as world No. 9 and made his first appearance at the ATP Finals, closing the season with a 40-24 record, though with the bitter note of three consecutive losses in Turin.

“For me, it’s not all about the results. It’s more about what I find in my game, the things that I figure out,” he said at a press conference in Auckland. “There are a lot of areas I improved last year. I was really happy. I felt like I did a lot of things that I hadn’t done before—getting my first Masters 1000 title, playing well on surfaces other than hard courts for the first time. There’s a lot to build off this year, and that’s what I’m hoping to do.”

For Shelton, it’s a demanding start to the season, considering he has to defend a significant number of points during the Australian Open swing. He reached the semifinals – his second appearance among the top four of a Grand Slam – and fell to eventual champion Jannik Sinner.

Shelton will need to at least match his performance in Melbourne if he hopes not to lose ranking positions, while winning matches this week in Auckland seems key to building confidence heading into the first major of the year. Shelton hopes – as in previous years – to continue improving his results and his level of play during this new season.

“I hope so. Tennis is an interesting sport. You reach new heights, then plateau. You have to drop off, then find it again,” said the 23-year-old. “Maybe an injury sets you back, and you’ve got to get back to the level you were at. It’s never just a straight line, but that’s certainly what I’m hoping for. I’m working hard every day, and I worked hard every day in the offseason. I didn’t take any time off, just trying to get closer and closer to where I want to be.”

If Shelton hopes to take a further leap and become a real contender for the biggest titles – and perhaps even a higher ranking – he will have to challenge the dominance of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, No. 1 and No. 2 in the rankings and champions of the last eight Grand Slam tournaments.

“They’ve certainly been ahead of the pack the last couple of years. But in my mind, there are definitely guys who can come up there and challenge, young guys who are playing great, getting better every year,” said the American No. 1. “To be doing what Alcaraz and Sinner are doing at such a young age—you forget how young they are—it’s not normal. But I think there are many young guys who haven’t fully developed yet, and we haven’t seen their best tennis. There’s a lot of opportunity for a lot of guys out there.”