“They can adapt,” Ben Shelton hopes to emulate the Big 3 at the US Open

Ben Shelton made the US Open semifinals last year in his breakthrough season, where he lost to eventual champion Novak Djokovic.

“They can adapt,” Ben Shelton hopes to emulate the Big 3 at the US Open

Ben Shelton and the Big 3 (via Imago)

13th seed Ben Shelton will carry American hopes at this year’s US Open. The left-hander will begin his campaign on Monday (August 26) against Dominic Thiem in the morning session.

Heading into this highly anticipated encounter with the former US Open champion, Shelton is drawing inspiration from the Big 3 (Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic). The 21-year-old spoke about this during the pre-tournament press conference on Saturday.

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One of the things that I loved about the way I played in Cincinnati is it was difficult conditions. Really fast court. A lot of wind, not easy for anyone to play there. There was a lot of complaints about the conditions there and I thought that I did a great job adapting and adjusting.
Ben Shelton said in the US Open pre-tournament press conference

Shelton’s game is dominated by his serve, a hallmark of many American players. Andy Roddick and John Isner are recent examples of players who excelled with that weapon.

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I think that the greats who have won many, many, many titles, namely Roger and Novak and Rafa, they can adapt. They can win Roland Garros and not play a tournament, and then go win or be in the finals of Wimbledon.
Ben Shelton added

However, Shelton’s focus is on creating a winning formula for a Grand Slam title. No American player has won a Grand Slam since Roddick defeated Juan Carlos Ferrero in the 2003 US Open final.

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Ben Shelton projected to play Novak Djokovic in the fourth round of the US Open

American tennis star Ben Shelton is projected to face defending champion Novak Djokovic in the fourth round of the US Open. If this happens, it will be a rematch of last year’s semifinals, which the Serbian won in straight sets.

Ben Shelton and Novak Djokovic
Ben Shelton and Novak Djokovic (via Imago)

Although this potential matchup seems like an easy win for Djokovic, the circumstances are quite different from what they were 12 months ago. Djokovic is entering this year’s US Open without having played a single match in the US Open series.

The Serbian’s last appearance was at the Paris Olympics, where he secured his first-ever Olympic Singles Gold medal. He also withdrew from the Cincinnati Open, where he was the defending champion. Meanwhile, Shelton skipped the Olympics and played in four different hard-court tournaments during the American summer. His best result was reaching the semifinals of the Citi Open, where he lost to Flavio Cobolli.

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