Ben Shelton turns away from Paris Olympics hours after Aryna Sabalenka revealed tedious tennis scheduling for the season

Ben Shelton beats Jakub Mensik in the 'battle of the youngsters' at Indian Wells. 

Ben Shelton turns away from Paris Olympics hours after Aryna Sabalenka revealed tedious tennis scheduling for the season

Ben Shelton and Aryna Sabalenka (Image via: Imago)

Ben Shelton has admitted he is unlikely to play at the Paris Olympics, hours after Aryna Sabalenka said that the Summer Olympics make the schedule tight. This is no strange topic, as the tennis schedule has become a point of contention for players across the ATP and WTA circuits.

For the uninitiated, the Paris Olympics have altered the tennis calendar this year. The tennis competition at the Olympics, being a one-week event, has forced four tournaments (Hamburg, Bastad, Gstaad, and Newport) to be played in the week after Wimbledon, as compared to three last year.

YouTube video

The jam-packed ATP and WTA schedule this year has led Sabalenka and Shelton to cast doubts about competing at the Paris Olympics. However, Shelton is optimistic that he will compete at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

FS Video
I'm leaning towards not going this year if I were to make it. I think it's tough in the tennis schedule this year. But I would want to play in LA in 2028 which is on the same side of the world as the US Open and on the same surface.
Shelton said.

On the other hand, World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka revealed that the congested WTA schedule isn’t positive for her body.

It's an interesting situation this season, with a very tight schedule, it's like all the tournaments were glued to each other, everything super tight, it's crazy to see how we're going to go from clay, then to grass, then back to clay… I don't know to what extent this is positive for the body. I am super happy to compete in another Olympic Games, I just hope to arrive at the event mentally and physically prepared, I really want to compete there.
Sabalenka said.

However, despite some players opting out of the Summer Olympics, tennis greats Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal have both declared how significant the tournament is for them.

Ben Shelton wins the ‘battle of the youngsters’

Ben Shelton defeated Jakub Mensik 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in what was dubbed the ‘battle of the youngsters’. The World No. 16 will play Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo in the third round of the Indian Wells Masters.

Ben Shelton via Imago

Mensik stunned tennis fans when he reached the Qatar Open finals as a qualifier. He defeated Andrey Rublev and Andy Murray en route to the final before losing to Karen Khachanov.

Shelton, who reached the semifinals of the 2023 US Open as a qualifier, will be hoping to make another record in the California desert.

In case you missed it: