Ben Shelton suffers a crushing defeat on the eve of the Paris Olympic Games.
The 21-year-old played his first match since reaching the fourth round of Wimbledon for the first time earlier this month.
The American was top seed at the Atlanta Open, but he crashed out of the tournament at the first hurdle.
This comes after Shelton rejected the chance to play at the Olympics, which is being played on the clay courts at Roland Garros, the home of the French Open Grand Slam.
Who did Ben Shelton lose to at the Atlanta Open?
Shelton decided to head straight back to his favoured US hard courts after a prolonged period of playing on clay and grass courts in Europe.
He is keen to build towards the US Open at the end of August, where he reached the semi-finals in 2023.
But his US summer hard court swing had the worst possible start after Shang Juncheng beat him 7-6(6), 6-4 win on Thursday night. This was just the 19-year-old’s second top 20 of his career and in the process recorded his third win over Shelton.
“It was a really tough match,” Shang said post-match. “The conditions are completely different from last year. The courts are much slower.
“But with this crowd, I really enjoy playing here. I don’t know what I did to play so well against Ben but he’s such an amazing guy, a lot of respect to him. I think I played really well and hopefully I can continue this.”
Why did Ben Shelton not play at the Paris Olympic Games?
Shelton explained the reason that he chose to skip the Olympic Games is to concentrate on having a full hard court season to best prepare for the US Open.
“I want to prepare and really get ready for the U.S. Open,” he said in a press conference. “Having to go back to Europe to play on clay, a different surface, it messes up a few lead-up tournaments to the U.S. Open.”
Fellow American Francis Tiafoe also chose not to take part in the Paris Olympics and US team captain and former doubles player Bob Bryan says he understands their decision.
“I’m not shocked by any decisions by the players. Everyone’s got their personal journey and individual goals for the season,” Bryan told Tennis.com. “And going from hard to clay to grass to clay to hard is challenging for anyone. If your goal is to peak at the US Open, it might not be the most ideal situation for you.
“So I support and am behind Ben and Frances, and I understand where they are coming from. “But for those guys that are going, I think they are going to have a wonderful time, there’s nothing like the Olympic energy.”
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