Ben Shelton is looking forward to playing in his second Laver Cup after his successful debut in 2023 helped Team World achieve a dominant 13-2 win over Team Europe.
After his beating of countryman Frances Tiafoe at the US Open 12 months ago, Ben Shelton reached the semi-finals on home soil.
Avenged this year, Tiafoe dumped Shelton out in a blockbuster third round US Open clash on a run that ended at the semi-final stage.
American tennis is currently enjoying its most exciting time since the conclusion of the Sampras and Agassi era of the late nineties.
For the first time since 1997, five American men are ranked within the ATP top 20, with Taylor Fritz’s US Open final appearance moving him back to within two spots of his career high ranking of fifth.
Ben Shelton heaps praise on ‘amazing’ John McEnroe ahead of the 2024 Laver Cup
With the Laver Cup still in its relative infancy having been introduced in 2017, Shelton is keen to get back into that Team World environment, with Berlin set to host the event this year from September 20-22.
A successful college player, Shelton boasts an on-court swagger and natural ability to, as he says, be a ‘hypeman’ for his teammates.
Having relished his outing at the 2023 Laver Cup, Shelton switched the attention to Team World captain, John McEnroe, whose competitive edge impressed him.
“It’s not every day that you get a Captain who’s as invested, if not more invested than you,” the 21-year-old explained on the Laver Cup’s official site. “His will to win and really wanting to beat up on the European guys was something that I thought was really cool, and I already had a huge amount of respect for Johnny Mac and I gained even more last year.”
“To be able to spend a little bit of time with him for the first time, [learn] how cool, down to earth he is, it was amazing, and yeah, hopefully we can make this last year for him really special.”
With McEnroe set to retire as captain at the end of this year’s Laver Cup, Agassi is already preparing to take on the role in 2025.
Which other players are competing for Team World alongside Ben Shelton?
Last year, the ‘Team World’ name felt slightly strange given five of the six players were from North America, with Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo the sole representative from somewhere else.
In 2024 however, there is a slightly more substantial meaning to ‘World’ with Australia’s Thanasi Kokkinakis, Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo, and Cerundolo making up half the team.
America’s Shelton is joined by Tiafoe and Fritz, who both also return from last year as the three highest ranked players for Team World.
With some already existing chemistry between Tiafoe and Shelton, Team World are set to bring a whole lot of energy and charisma to this year’s Laver Cup.
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