“It’s easy to think the world revolves around you” – Shelton staying grounded after reaching Shanghai quarter-finals

It has been an epic year for Ben Shelton so far – but he is not getting carried away.

He’s broken into the Top 20 of the ATP rankings, reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open and the semi-finals of the US Open – plus made his UTS debut.

And after beating the in-form Jannik Sinner to reach the quarter-finals in Shanghai, the American was asked what he had learnt on the ATP Tour thus far.

“I think that being out on tour as a tennis player, it’s easy for you to think that the world revolves around you, but it doesn’t,” he replied.

“For me, I think how I treat people every single day, around the site, and the people who work for the tournament, it really couldn’t happen without them. I think that it’s easy, just being in the situation myself and seeing it, it would be easy to take it for granted and think that you’re a star or you’re bigger than you really are. I think that staying true to myself and treating people the right way day-in and day-out, no matter how I’m feeling, losing a match, winning a match, I think that’s probably one of the biggest lessons that I’ve learned.

“The other biggest lesson I’ve learned is just people are always watching the things that you do and say. Being a college kid a year and a half ago, that wasn’t something that I expected or to be in that situation now. It’s something that happened quite quickly and was a shock to me.”

Shelton: I learned a lot about myself

As for the way he came from a set down to beat his Italian opponent 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5), he learnt plenty from that too.

“I can obviously take a lot of confidence from that match, and belief,” he added. “I think my toughness level and how resilient I was able to be on the court, I surprised myself a little bit. I definitely had a lot of chances throughout the match and he came up with the goods time and time again. Break points, he hit his spots and came up with the great plays.

“Going down the stretch, knowing I had had a lot of opportunities that I didn’t convert, and being able to get over the finish line after being up big in the tiebreaker and him coming back and putting a lot of pressure on me, I think that I learned a lot about myself.”

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