Ben Shelton joins field for UTS Frankfurt

“The Mountain” is the seventh man to sign up for the October 17-20 event

June 26, 2024

American Ben Shelton will return to UTS this year when he plays in the Frankfurt event in October.

The left-hander, nicknamed “The Mountain”, is the seventh man to sign up for the fast-paced innovative competition, joining Frances Tiafoe – “Big Foe”, Gael Monfils – “La Monf”, Dominic Thiem – “Dominator”, Lorenzo Musetti – “The Illusionist”, Alex de Minaur – “The Demon” and Jan-Lennard Struff – “The Thunder”.

Shelton performed well on his UTS debut in Los Angeles last year, reaching the Final Four, and said he enjoyed his first taste of the event.

“I played UTS Los Angeles last year and had a blast!” he said. “Format is exciting – it can only bring new fans. Thrilled to be back and can’t wait to play in front of Frankfurt crowd. See you in October guys.”

“Group” sport

Shelton said the UTS was more like a team environment.

“I decided to say yes to play in the UTS in 2023 because I think it’s a great new avenue to grow our sport, I think that’s a type of tennis that’s gonna be very different and exciting and I think that it will really help grow the sport and grow the groups that are tennis fans,” Shelton said.

“For me, UTS transforms tennis from an individual sport into a ‘group’ sport. You have the coach on the court, you interact with the audience, there can be music during the points… Normally, you don’t see that in our sport. I really loved it.”

The UTS Frankfurt event will be held from October 17-20, with the winner qualifying for the season-ending UTS Grand Final in London in December.