MELBOURNE, Australia | The American Ben Shelton had the first stamp in his passport in the past few weeks. Never the 89e Players of the world had come from the United States in the past. Not even for a family vacation.
• Also read: “When I go to the casino, I win for sure” – Andrey Rublev
• Also read: Djokovic painless and dangerous
There have been some crazy stories since this Australian Open began, but none compare to that of 20-year-old Shelton, who is set to play the quarter-finals of the first major tournament of the season on Tuesday night or Tuesday night through Wednesday.
Then, who will enter the top 50 of the ATP rankings next Monday?
The American, in his own words, was an average player as a teenager. His father Bryan, himself a former world 55th, therefore saw no point in letting him travel abroad where he “would still lose but learn the same things [qu’aux États-Unis]”.
And Shelton attended a traditional public school, which made long absences problematic.
In Australia with no expectations
Lo and behold, the average gamer has come a long way in the past few years. He played in the NCAA, the American College Circuit, for the Florida Gaitors. He is still studying and taking some correspondence courses during the two weeks.
“When I flew [en décembre]I had no expectations,” he admitted in a press conference after beating compatriot JJ Wolf, 67th in the world, after a fight that ended 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-7 (4) , 7 ended -6 (4) and 6-2, Monday.
“I knew it was going to be really hard to adjust to Australia due to fatigue and jet lag. It was my first time out of the country, he continued, I knew it was going to be complicated.
“I think it helped me not having any expectations, no pressure to get good results. I could just be myself and play freely. I think that was a big part of my success.”
A win against Ruud
Shelton had already been able to point out his talent to other professionals on the racetrack last summer. The 6’4″ youngster had reached the third round of the Cincinnati Masters where he was a guest of the organizers.
The American had beaten world number 2, Norwegian Casper Ruud.
A few weeks later, Shelton caught the shine of the majors in New York, where he lost a five-set bout to Nuno Borges of Portugal, then 104th.
The American played two events in Oceania before the start of the Australian fortnight: qualifying in Adelaide, where he lost in the first round, then two main draw games in Auckland (he lost in the second round).
He wants his diploma
Coupled with jet lag and around 9,500 kilometers separating him from his home country for the first time, those last two results did not suggest Shelton would endure such a dazzling outburst in Melbourne.
After the third round and his win over Australia’s Alexei Popyrin, 113th in the world, the young player said he pinched himself to make sure he wasn’t dreaming.
But no, Shelton is not dreaming. The friendly young man is also rather down-to-earth. Because even if he were to beat fellow countryman Tommy Paul, 35, in the quarter-finals and win the trophy next Sunday, he would still be taking his finance courses at university.
“I really want to graduate,” he said.
“But this whole week is extraordinary,” he smiled. I feel really good.”