WATCH: Ben Shelton shares an EMOTIONAL hug with his father after claiming first ATP title in Tokyo

Young Ben Shelton beats Russian Aslan Karatsev to wins the 2023 Japan Open.

WATCH: Ben Shelton shares an EMOTIONAL hug with his father after claiming first ATP title in Tokyo

Ben Shelton (Via ATP tour)

The 2023 Japan Open ended with a bang as youngster Ben Shelton achieved a moment of triumph after clinching his first-ever ATP Tour title. The 20-year-old beat Aslan Karatsev in a thrilling two-set match to win the tournament. However, the moments after the match caught the attention of the fans and touched millions of hearts.

Ben Shelton won his maiden title and celebrated by going over to his box and giving a heartwarming hug to his father. Bryan Shelton, the father of Ben, is a college coach who left his job to accompany his son on the tour. His sacrifice has paid off as he got to watch his son lift the ATP Tour title for the first time. In a video shared on Twitter, the American was seen giving a heartwarming hug to his father moments after the match.

YouTube video

Shelton’s father was seen cheering his son throughout the season full of emotions as he saw his son win the match point and give out a roar of emotion indicating the end of the match.

FS Video

The final score was 7-5, 6-1 where Shelton displayed absolute fitness backing up every point he won throughout the tournament.

Related: ‘Boring’ Ben Shelton claims he has no friends claiming he just keeps his mouth shut around people

Ben Shelton becomes the youngest Japan Open champion

After a thrilling victory against Aslan Karatsev, Ben Shelton became the youngest player to win the Japan Open since Lleyton Hewitt. With this victory, Ben leads the H2H 2-0. Karatsev is yet to win against Shelton. 

Ben Shelton (Via Imago)
I want to thank my team. I feel very lucky that God put you in my life. I feel blessed. I appreciate all the work you do for me. I know I’m not the easiest to deal with. I really appreciate everything you do. Working day in and day out, working as hard as I am to get to the top. Thanks for your persistence dad & everyone else who’s been in my box this week.
Ben Shelton in the post-match interview.

Ben Shelton had a relatively good Asian leg compared to the rest of the year. Earlier, he made it to QF at the Australian Open but failed to win consecutive matches till the US Open. He lost to Novak Djokovic in the US Open semifinal where Serbian imitated his phone call celebration. Shelton made it to the quarterfinal of the Shanghai Open as well. During his on-court speech, he said:

Earlier in the season I was losing early a lot of weeks. So my match count isn’t too high (smiling). I actually feel fairly fresh going into this last home stretch. Really looking forward to going back to Europe and finishing this indoor season strong.

With his first ATP tour final victory, Ben Shelton also became the 6th first-time tour champion. He has joined his father Bryan to become the 4th father-son duo to be an ATP tour title holder.

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