Ben Shelton had to come from behind to win his first round match at the French Open against Lorenzo Sonego.
Shelton beat Sonego in the Australian Open quarter-finals earlier this year, and was drawn to play the Italian in the first round of the next Grand Slam.
This was the first time that Shelton has played on Court Philippe-Chatrier, with his match against Sonego being placed in the night session slot on day one of the French Open.
As a result, Shelton has been able to achieve a record that is only bettered by Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz.
Ben Shelton achieves Grand Slam record at the French Open
Shelton fought back from two-sets-to-one down to beat Sonego, 6-4 4-6 3-6 6-2 6-3, in three hours and 34 minutes.
This was the 25th Grand Slam victory of the young American’s career, with Shelton joining a host of top names from the ATP Tour to achieve this.
Having only taken 35 matches to win 25 matches at Grand Slam level, Shelton equals 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at joint third in the history books.
Only Spaniards Nadal and Alcaraz have managed to win 35 Grand Slam matches quicker than Shelton, both taking just 32 matches to do so.
Shelton, who had won just one of his last three matches leading into the French Open, continues to raise his level at major tournaments.
Ben Shelton’s impressive Grand Slam record in numbers
Shelton has already reached two Grand Slam semi-finals at just 22 years old, both coming on hard courts.
The most recent was at the aforementioned Australian Open, where Shelton lost to Jannik Sinner on that occasion.
His other semi-final was at the 2023 US Open, with Shelton losing out to the eventual champion Djokovic on that occasion.
| Grand Slam | Win-loss Record | Best Result |
| Australian Open | 11-3 (79%) | Semi-final (2025) |
| French Open | 3-2 (60%) | Third Round (2024) |
| Wimbledon | 4-2 (67%) | Fourth Round (2024) |
| US Open | 7-3 (70%) | Semi-final (2023) |
| Overall | 25-10 (71%) | Semi-final (US’23 & AO’25) |
The French Open is statistically Shelton’s worst performing Grand Slam tournament, but he has the opportunity to change that after his fightback win over Sonego.
Shelton will now play Frenchman Hugo Gaston, who had to come through a five set match of his own in the first round.
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