“She’s the reason why”: Ben Shelton dedicates first Grand Slam final to grandmother
Ben Shelton dedicated his first Grand Slam final to the grandmother his family lost this year, saying that without her there would be no Ben Shelton. His father, who coaches him, explained why: a lower-middle-class household in Alabama, a sport nobody could afford, and a mother who found a way to pay for it anyway.
Ben Shelton and his grandma Regina Ann Shelton | © Instagram / Ben Shelton
Ben Shelton reached his first Grand Slam final on Friday night and gave it to a woman who was not there.
“My mom and dad sacrificed a lot for me to be in this position today,” he told Arthur Ashe Stadium after beating Frances Tiafoe 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-5. “My dad lost his mom earlier this year. She’s the reason he was able to play tennis. Without her there’s no Ben Shelton standing here today. This one is for her.”
His father, Bryan Shelton, a former professional who now coaches him, was asked afterwards to fill in who she was.
“Moms are special,” he said. “My mom was super special. Just a special lady who gave her kids opportunities to do the things they were passionate about, and I was passionate about playing tennis at a young age. She supported that.”
The money was the problem, and she solved it. “My dad did, too, even though it was a little bit begrudgingly because, you know, lower-middle class probably and not a lot of money to try to do this at a high level. It’s super expensive. My mom just made the sacrifices to make it happen. I mean, I won’t get into all the details, but it wasn’t easy.”
She was able to pass down some of the same principles and values that she passed down to me.
What she started did not stop with him. “Then her being able to impact Ben and his life and my daughter Emma as well was great, that she was able to pass down some of the same principles and values that she passed down to me, she was able to give them as well. Just nice for Ben to recognize that tonight.”
It has been a year of losses in the family. “It’s been a tough year for us losing her, losing my coach and mentor, Bill Tym, this same year,” Bryan Shelton said. “Been a tough year, but there’s been so many blessings and so many good things, like tonight.”
There is a line the father keeps returning to when asked about any of it, and it is not about tennis. He grew up in Alabama and declined to stay on the subject. He did not decline this one. “This kid, it’s kind of surreal. I didn’t think he was going to even get into this sport, and then to be in the sport and to be where he’s at right now, it’s just hard to believe, hard to believe, and just super, super grateful.”
Regina Ann Shelton was born on October 26th 1935 and died on March, 27th 2026. Ben Shelton had written a wonderful tribute posted a month after her death, from the Alabama home where the family had gathered the day before to celebrate her life: “She was a beautiful woman who had more love in her heart than anyone I have ever met. She was a fighter until the very end. I could talk for days about the impact she’s had on me, and without her I would never be playing tennis, much less professionally. (…) I love you Grandear”.
Ben Shelton is the first Black American man in a US Open final since Arthur Ashe in 1972. He plays Alexander Zverev on Sunday.
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