For the players on the ATP Tour, this period of the year is all about getting prepared for the US Open, and Ben Shelton has a spring in his step.
Shelton is up to a career-high number seven in the world, and he will fancy going deep when proceedings get underway at Flushing Meadows at the end of August.
Jack Sock has hailed Shelton for his efforts so far this year, and he’s absolutely considered a future winner of a Grand Slam title.
Before the US Open, attention turns towards the Canadian Open in Toronto and Shelton might fancy going all the way after a number of withdrawals from the event.
Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic have pulled out, with Alexander Zverev taking on the role of number one seed for the event.
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Ben Shelton has spotted something strange in Toronto this year
The world number seven has been practicing ahead of his first round match against Adrian Mannarino tomorrow and he’s noticed some changes around the place.
Although the venue technically remains the same, Shelton has been having a hit with the balls that will be in use this year and he thinks things feel slightly different to this time 12 months ago.
He said in his press conference: “Yeah, good crowd, good atmosphere, fast, bouncy courts. Can’t ask for much more. It’s a little bit warmer here this year than I remember, and the ball’s more lively and a little bit faster than I remember. It’s conditions that I enjoy and, yeah, just looking forward to seeing what I can do.”
The balls that the professionals play with often cause some intrigue and it will be fascinating to see if anyone has any complaints about the ones in use at this year’s event.”
Shelton shares if he dreams of being the next American slam winner
With Shelton joining Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul and Frances Tiafoe in making big strides this year, the race to become the next Grand Slam winner from the United States is on.
Fritz has come the closest to winning a slam, reaching a final and semifinal in the last 12 months but Shelton is definitely coming up on the rails.
Asked about the friendly competition, he does concede that it’s a concept that does exist among the American players on tour.
He continued: “I mean, I’m sure, yeah, there’s definitely healthy competition. We’re all friends, competitors. We all like seeing each other do well, but we all have our own ambitions and things that we want to do in the sport.
“It’s been cool to just be a part of it, and kind of see the evolution of all the American players on the men’s side and how much better we seem to do each year. The women have been dominating for forever, and we’re just trying to catch up.”
With the US Open, the home tournament for the United States stars, it will be fascinating to see how the players perform at this year’s event when it gets underway next month.
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