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The Australian Open 2023 has seen a ton of surprises so far. We are only in the round of 16 of the tournament and there are very few big names left on the circuit. There are only four of the top ten seeds left and only Novak Djokovic seems to be giving any certainty about his stay in the tournament.
We have seen several interesting stories and surprising tennis players to say the least and among these we cannot fail to mention the story of the young Ben Shelton, born in 2002 in Atlanta and recently entered the world Top 100.
Ben is the son of a tennis player, he started playing tennis late compared to others and has been growing impressively in recent months. Over six months ago he wasn't in the top 500 but Shelton's climb has been impressive and he's grown to the tune of Challengers.
Shelton is in his first tennis adventure outside the United States and has reached the round of 16 of the tournament. His ranking is destined to grow considerably and after this tournament he will surely be at least number 65 in the world rankings.
The USA has been really impressing in recent months and the recent United Cup victory shows the great growth in the sport. The times of Agassi and Sampras are long gone, but now it's not just Fritz and Tiafoe and the United States continues to grow.
This is only the second Grand Slam for Ben, eliminated in the first round (and after a great battle against Borges) of the 2022 Us Open.
Ben Shelton: the American dream come true
Ben Shelton is in the round of 16 of the tournament and has a great opportunity.
The young American will face his countryman Wolf in the round of 16 and should eventually challenge the winner between Tommy Paul and Roberto Bautista Agut, a calendar that is far from impossible and which would lead him to a sensational Grand Slam semifinal against Novak Djokovic.
In America they begin to dream, as well as Shelton. The young American spoke like this after the victory against the Australian Popyrin: "This is all fantastic. This experience is unreal and I am very happy to go on. At the end of the match I called my parents and they were happy too, I'm surrounded by positivity and it couldn't go better".
A truly extraordinary adventure and Shelton is aware that it could go even better. Six months ago he was number 587 in the world, in the meantime he has played in 6 Challenger finals, winning three of them and the results are clear to all.
Thanks to the Ranking he was able to enter the rankings for the Australian Open and now everyone thinks we are only at the beginning. An American dream and the hope of an entire people that they have found a new champion.