Just before his first encounter with the in-form Aussie, Alex de Minaur, American superstar Ben Shelton heaped praise on his opponent, saying, “He’s a dawg. I’m ready for it. He’s very fast. He’s in a great rhythm; you saw what he did in DC. He’s a great front-runner, and you can never count him out when he’s down.” So, he was well aware of the threat in this match against ‘Demon’, who recently clinched the title at the 2025 Citi Open. Talking about this match, ‘Big Ben’ sealed an impressive 6-3,6-4 win against the Aussie with the help of his monstrous serves and high-kicking forehand. He fired 13 aces in this 91-minute encounter, and now, he’s all set to face Taylor Fritz in the SF.
Ben Shelton clubbed 8 forehand winners and capitalized on an unusual 28 unforced errors from Alex de Minaur. The American also won 32 baseline points to De Minaur’s 29! With this win, Shelton has now reached his first career Masters 1000 SF. But talking about the game plan for this match, he was informed that his father had said that he doesn’t want Shelton to be involved in long rallies with De Minaur in this match. However, Shelton seemed to have a new game plan for this match. Something quite different from what his father had suggested previously!
In his post-match interview, Ben Shelton replied. “I don’t know what he was talking about, but I thought that was part of the game plan. For me I think a lot of guys see me as just a server. Someone who can serve, and not as much of a baseliner or grinder. For me. I think psychologically, when I go into a match like a locked-down mode and my normal rally ball does come on with a bit of weight, and it’s not like I’m just pushing in the court. I think I surprise guys sometimes.” The 22-year-old American further went on to add, “For me, being able to win those longer rallies, be comfortable in my own skills out there on the court, and not feel that I’m rushing to make something happen is a huge part of my evolution, as you said.”
Image Credits: Ben Shelton/Instagram
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