Ben Shelton can be quite satisfied with his 2025 season, in which he showed clear improvements compared to previous years. The young American ace knew he had to work on different aspects to become competitive on every surface against the top players and the response was positive, considering that he has been consistent especially in Grand Slam tournaments.
In addition to reaching the semifinals at the Australian Open earlier this year, Ben also put in excellent performances at Roland Garros and the Wimbledon Championships, where he was eliminated by Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner (the two current leaders of the men's tour) respectively.
Shelton has made progress
Shelton shone during the summer, considering that he won his first Masters 1000 title in Toronto, also taking advantage of the numerous absences among the top players. He had the motivation to achieve a prestigious result at the US Open, but a shoulder injury forced him to retire during his match against French veteran Adrian Mannarino.
Because of that issue, the American talent was forced to miss several tournaments in the latter part of the season and struggled to regain his best level. Ben deservedly qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin for the first time in his career, but his performances fell short of expectations and he was eliminated already in the round robin (with three losses).
In an interview reported by 'Sportskeeda', former Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios confided that he is a huge fan of Shelton: "I consider him an incredible player, capable of bringing so much energy and intensity to the tennis court. I see myself a lot in his game, in the way he takes risks and interacts with the crowd. It's no coincidence that fans have an excellent relationship with him in all the tournaments he plays."
The American star will try to close the gap that separates him from Alcaraz and Sinner during the off-season, knowing that he will have to defend many points already in Melbourne at the beginning of 2026.
