Ben Shelton has previously struggled at his home Masters 1000 tournament in Miami.
Shelton struggled with flu at Indian Wells last week, and he is now looking to move on ahead of the Miami Open in Florida, the state where he resides.
Despite being a local player, Shelton has lost three of his four previous matches at the Miami Open and has never surpassed the third round.
Last year, Shelton suffered a shock defeat to Coleman Wong, but he has now had a change of heart about the courts in Miami.
Ben Shelton did not like the fast courts at the Miami Open
Shelton’s only previous win at the Miami Open came in 2024, when he beat Spanish wildcard Martin Landaluce.
When asked about his struggles at the tournament in an interview with Tennis TV, Shelton joked that it was related to where he was staying in Miami, which he has actually changed for this year’s tournament.
“Yeah, it’s because I always stay in Brickell!” joked Shelton. “So, I’m not doing that this year, I’ve switched it up. But every year I stay in Brickell and every year I lose first round, so we’ve moved it around a little bit closer to site this year and we’ll see if that solves the problem.”
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With Shelton living in Florida and just being an American player in general, he does receive more media attention at the Miami Open, but it is not something that he feels is the case.
Instead, Shelton admitted that he previously struggled with the fast courts at the Miami Open, but he now feels that he has now found his form on them.
This is something that he feels was evidenced last month, with Shelton winning the Dallas Open on quick indoor hard courts.
“I don’t feel that, I don’t feel any more media attention,” responded Shelton. “I think honestly when I first came out on tour I didn’t love the fast courts, I didn’t feel like I had time to do what I wanted to do.
“The longer I’m out here the more I’m enjoying playing on fast courts, like Dallas a few weeks ago. The lower bouncing, the balls shooting through, even a year ago, six months ago, that was something I was struggling with.
“I feel a lot more comfortable now and hopefully I can make a run here, because I feel like the conditions suit me really well how I’m playing right now.”
| Year | Ben Shelton’s Miami Open Result |
| 2023 | Second Round – Lost to Adrian Mannarino |
| 2024 | Third Round – Lost to Lorenzo Musetti |
| 2025 | Second Round – Lost to Coleman Wong |
Ben Shelton provides update after struggling with illness in Indian Wells
Shelton lost to Learner Tien in just the third round of Indian Wells last week, with the world number nine clearly feeling under the weather.
Just over a week on from that match, Shelton has revealed that he is feeling a lot better ahead of the Miami Open.
“Yeah, I’m feeling good,” said Shelton. “I wasn’t in Indian Wells, that was a tough little stretch for me. You know, it’s not easy being sick during the season, our calendar is so long and it doesn’t really slow down for you.
“So it was unfortunate, unfortunate timing, obviously I love Indian Wells it’s a great tournament, but I’m excited to be healthy here for Miami and hopefully make something happen.”
Expressing just how much he was struggling throughout his time in Indian Wells, Shelton revealed that he felt like he couldn’t stand in the morning.
“Yeah, you know I was waking up every morning and I felt like I couldn’t stand and I didn’t have any energy, so I was just trying to get some free points on my serve,” explained Shelton.
“Each day I was hoping I was going to feel a little bit better, which I wasn’t. But yeah, I couldn’t move too much, so just tried to keep the points short.”
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Although Shelton is now feeling better, he explained that he has tried to push himself to make sure he has not lost the intensity that he had before he was feeling unwell.
“Yeah, I think once you’re not feeling sick anymore you feel like you are recovered from the sickness or have at least gotten over it,” added Shelton.
“Just pushing yourself, you know time isn’t your friend for a quick turnaround like this, so you’ve got to get ready as quickly as possible and that’s just pushing yourself on court, taking the time to kind of up the intensity to get back to the level of play that you’re at before.”
Shelton will hope to be feeling both better in himself and on the courts at the Miami Open this year, where he is the eighth seed.
After receiving a bye to the second round, Shelton will play either Matteo Arnaldi or Alexander Shevchenko.
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