Ben Shelton says if he would consider playing mixed doubles again after competing at the US Open

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Ben Shelton has already played two matches at the 2025 US Open, competing in the new-look mixed doubles event.

Partnering with WTA doubles number one Taylor Townsend, Shelton would have fancied his chances of picking up the title in New York.

The pair got off to the perfect start, defeating Holger Rune and Amanda Anisimova in straight sets, 4-2, 5-4, booking their place in the quarterfinals.

Unable to go any further, Shelton and Townsend lost to their fellow Americans, Danielle Collins and Christian Harrison, 1-4, 4-5, later on Tuesday evening.

Looking ahead to 2026 and beyond, Shelton has now revealed whether he intends to play mixed doubles again.

Ben Shelton would ‘100%’ play mixed doubles again

During his pre-tournament press conference, Shelton suggested he would return to play mixed doubles in the future.

“I enjoyed it. I love playing doubles,” he said.

“I said that my doubles career was over at Slams because of how difficult it is with the schedule and playing three-out-of-five sets, but if any of the other Slams did something like this, where it was kind of in the pre-week, I’d think about playing again, 100%.”

Shelton believes the event went ‘great’, as he named the player who impressed him the most.

“Yeah, I think it went great. I don’t know if mixed doubles has ever filled up big stadiums like that before,” he said.

“I played with Taylor [Townsend] in 2023, and we actually did have some pretty good crowds, but this year was obviously another level.

• 2023 US Open 1R – Ben Shelton/Taylor Townsend beat Joe Salisbury/Luisa Stefani
• 2023 US Open 2R – Ben Shelton/Taylor Townsend beat Rohan Bopanna/Aldila Sutjiadi
• 2023 US Open QF – Ben Shelton/Taylor Townsend beat Hugo Nys/Demi Schuurs
• 2023 US Open SF – Ben Shelton/Taylor Townsend lost to Austin Krajicek/Jessica Pegula

“So I think that if you asked the tournament, they’d say that it was a success.

“You had a lot of big names play. It was tough. Obviously, it was Tuesday, Wednesday, and most of the players who were in, were either playing Monday in Cincy or playing late in Cincy, kind of came here, hit once, or if you’re Iga [Swiatek], probably didn’t hit at all and went out and played.

“Her making finals, that was pretty impressive.”

Iga Swiatek and Casper Ruud lost the US Open mixed doubles final against Andrea Vavassori and Sara Errani.

After winning the Cincinnati Open title on Monday, Swiatek narrowly lost the US Open mixed doubles final just 48 hours later, on Wednesday night.

There have been several calls for schedule changes following the quick turnaround, as the event was, in reality, fortunate not to have more players withdraw.

Of the 32 players set to compete, only Jannik Sinner withdrew on the eve of the tournament, having fallen ill in Cincinnati.

It will be interesting to see who plays next year, but for now, the stars of the ATP and WTA Tours will turn their full attentions to the singles tournament.

Shelton, in particular, will have his eyes on the prize, having impressed at the Grand Slam events so far in 2025.

Can Ben Shelton go all the way and win the US Open?

The 22-year-old has yet to lose to anyone other than Jannik Sinner or Carlos Alcaraz at major tournaments in 2025.

Considering the world number one and two have won all three Grand Slams this year, those defeats have aged pretty well.

If Shelton can take his game to another level in New York, then he could well be one to look out for during the latter stages of the tournament.

The world number six will begin his 2025 US Open campaign on Sunday, August 24, against qualifier Ignacio Buse.