Sam Querrey reveals what Ben Shelton told him an hour after his quarterfinal defeat to Jannik Sinner at Wimbledon

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Ben Shelton saw his best ever run at Wimbledon come to an end at the hands of Jannik Sinner.

Shelton was beaten by Sinner in straight sets on Court No.1, despite concerns about the fitness of the world number one.

After losing to the three-time Grand Slam champion, Shelton rued mistakes he made against Sinner.

Now his compatriot and former Wimbledon semifinalist, Sam Querrey, has revealed what Shelton told him in the immediate aftermath of his defeat.

What Ben Shelton told Sam Querrey after his Wimbledon quarterfinal defeat

Reacting to the match, both Querrey and John Isner spoke on their Nothing Major podcast about Shelton’s performance in the Wimbledon quarterfinals.

Both Isner and Querrey praised Shelton for his ability to raise his level for Grand Slam tournaments, claiming that they would never count him out again.

Querrey, who is currently in London for the Wimbledon Championships, then revealed that he crossed paths with Shelton after the match and could sense how disappointed he was.

“But great tournament for Ben,” said Querrey. “Look, Ben coming into Slams, I don’t care if he’s lost seven in a row it doesn’t matter, he steps up at Slams. From this point forward I will never be surprised if Ben is in the second week of Slam. He’s a big game player, he steps up and he has got that gene.”

Isner responded, “Yeah, like at Queen’s he loses to Arthur Rinderknech, brutal translation. Obviously a good player on grass, we saw that after he beat [Alexander] Zverev. And then in Mallorca he lost to fellow American Learner Tien, that was a bit of an interesting result.

“But, he gets to London pops a quarterfinal and loses to Sinner in a tight three set match. Ben, he’s going to be fine. Did you see his quote after the match Sam, he said, ‘I can sit here and be like wow, 22-years-old and I’ve been able to do all these things and achieve so much, but my mind is I don’t know I’m critical, I’m a critical thinker, I’m trying to solve problems and I know I’m not where I want to be and that’s what I’m focusing on’.”

Querrey added, “I saw him about an hour after the match on the lawn at Wimbledon and he’s like bummed you can see it on his face.

“You know I gave him a little high five and he’s like, ‘I got a find a way to get to these guys’ level’, that’s what proves it. He’s not like, obviously he’s happy he made the quarterfinals that’s fine, but there’s another layer in there that he’s got and he wants to get to that level.”

Isner then backed Shelton to be able to compete with the likes of Sinner in the future, “Oh absolutely, and I think he can get there. That’s just me, he’s got the game, he’s got the physicality.”

Ben Shelton’s Grand Slam vs ATP Tour record in 2025

Querrey and Isner mentioning Shelton’s elevated level for the Grand Slam tournaments is evident from the statistics.

Shelton is yet to win an ATP title so far in 2025, and has won as many matches on the tour as the three Grand Slam tournaments.

His best Grand Slam result came at the first major of the year, the Australian Open, with Shelton losing to Sinner again in the semifinals.

Shelton has achieved his best results at each of the individual Grand Slams this year, losing to only Sinner or Carlos Alcaraz.

The world number 10 will now have his eyes set on the US Open, where he reached the semifinals in 2023.

Shelton begins his North American hard court swing at the Washington Open, that begins on Monday, July 21.