"It's one of those moments where you have to pinch yourself to believe it," he admitted, still full of stars in his eyes, after his victory in the third round on the big John Cain court (the third main court of the Melbourne Park) almost filled and all acquired because of his Australian opponent Alexei Popyrin (113th).

"There were times when I looked around and said to myself 'wow, the stadium is so damn full'. It was incredible, difficult to describe. I could never have imagined that I would find myself there there. at six months, even four months”, he savored.

Last July he was 433rd, in September 172nd.

He started the Australian Open as 89th in the ATP and will climb well into the Top 50 on Monday at the end of the tournament.

American Ben Shelton after his victory against his compatriot JJ Wolf in the round of 16 of the Australian Open, in Melbourne, January 23, 2023 © ANTHONY WALLACE / AFP

"If he keeps playing like this, in six months he is in the Top 10," Popyrin predicted.

Still largely unknown when boarding the plane for the foreigner, the player born in Atlanta 20 years ago, made a name for himself in ten days: he is the first American university champion in title to climb in the quarters of Australian Major final since Arthur Ashe in 1966 and the youngest US player to reach the quarters of a Grand Slam tournament since Andy Roddick at the 2002 US Open.

References

Two former world N.1s, two sacred references in world tennis.

And Shelton can go even further since he faces his compatriot Tommy Paul (35th) on Wednesday, also unexpected at this stage of the tournament, for a place in the last four.

To get there, the 1.93m young man went through the American university sector, a less popular route in recent years than the academies where only tennis counts.

"I don't have any exams yet, but it will become interesting when my exam dates coincide with those of the matches", he underlined after his victory in the round of 16 against his compatriot JJ Wolf (67th) .

American Ben Shelton during his match against Chilean Nicolas Jarry at the Australian Open, January 19, 2023 © ANTHONY WALLACE / AFP

Trained by his father Bryan, himself a former 55th in the world, the left-hander turned professional in 2022, just before playing his first Major, the American Federation having granted him an invitation to the US Open.

He lost there in five sets and three tie breaks against the Portuguese Nuno Borges (104th), in the first round.

As a teenager, he was not particularly good, was passionate about sports other than tennis.

"I was not at the level that many players on the circuit had at 13, 14, 15 and even 18 years old," he said.

Why travel?

At the time, many American players were able to beat him every week.

This explains his absence from the major international tournaments of his age.

"My father thought there was no reason to travel abroad where I would probably have lost too", he underlines.

His first ATP tournament, he played it in his city of birth, Atlanta, where he won his first match on the main circuit by beating in two sets the Indian Ramkumar Ramanathan (229th) before losing in the tie break of the third set against his illustrious compatriot John Isner (25th).

American Ben Shelton after his victory over Chilean Nicolas Jarry at the Australian Open, January 19, 2023 © ANTHONY WALLACE / AFP

Then at the Cincinnati Masters 1000, he won two matches, against Lorenzo Sonego (56th) and especially Casper Ruud (5th), finalist three weeks later at Flushing Meadows.

He had finished the year on the Challenger circuit by winning his last three tournaments, before starting the 2023 season at the ATP 250 in Adelaide where he lost in the first qualifying round.

He then advanced to the second round of the ATP 250 in Auckland.

Not enough to predict the course to come in Melbourne.

"I gained confidence last year at the start of the summer, he confides. The more I played at a very high level, the more I thought I was capable of advancing".

How far will he go in Melbourne?

© 2023 AFP