MUBADALA CITI DC OPEN

July 23, 2025

Ben Shelton

Quick Quotes

B. SHELTON/M. McDonald

6-3, 6-4

Q. (Question about training.)

BEN SHELTON: I mean, 100% it's getting used to the harder contact on the ground. You're used to playing on soft surfaces in the European swing. Whether it's the clay courts where it's easier to slide on or the grass courts.

Obviously on grass it's a different beast playing here on the hard courts. It's a lot harder on the legs, for sure. And then the heat is a huge thing for me.

While I'm in Florida, trying to get acclimatized as quickly as possible, I only had a week. Getting up, in the hot tub, up to my neck for 15 minutes at a time, doing sessions like that, unless I have a sauna, then, you know, sauna sessions as well are really important. But to be able to get used to being in the heat and go over the top so it doesn't feel so hot on the court. Obviously on a 95-degree day on the hard court, feels like 115 or 120.

So there is a lot of things that go into playing on the hard courts, being ready to play on top of just your tennis game. That's what makes the U.S. summer a challenge.

Q. Your comment on court was you missed Publix. Most important question: What's your full Pub Sub order?

BEN SHELTON: Oh, I haven't had a Pub Sub in a while, but you gotta go chicken dinner sub if you are going to go. Buffalo sauce, a little bit of ranch, tomato and lettuce. Fairly simple. Publix, Whole Foods, those are the best.

Q. (Off mic.)

BEN SHELTON: No, not that I'm allowed. I tend to try to stay away and go for different options. If I have it once I will be craving it every day.

Q. Other than your dad, growing up, what tennis players did you look up to? Or if not tennis players, what athletes did you kind of respect their style of play or charisma, intensity, that kind of thing?

BEN SHELTON: For me, the football player Calvin Johnson who played for the Detroit Lions. He played at Georgia Tech when my dad was the coach there. He gave me a signed ball for my fifth or sixth birthday.

He was my hero and my favorite player. I will say he's the greatest wide receiver of all time, and I'll stand on that till I die. That was the athlete I really looked up to.

Then the other one was Tiger Woods. My dad kind of looks like him. (Laughter.) My dad has been mistaken for him a few times. The way he competed, the tenacity, intensity, in a sport that was more country club and not used to play in the way that he brought it. It was really cool for me to watch, someone I looked up to. Just, you know, one of the most iconic athletes of all times.

Those are some guys that, for me outside of tennis, I looked up to. And then, you know, watching highlight tapes of Monfils and Tsonga, Rafa and Roger, I mean, everybody. But, you know, Monfils has the greatest highlight tapes of all time. That was the guy that kind of made tennis fun for me.

Q. Were you serious that you prepared by getting neck deep in a hot tub for 15 minutes? Did I misunderstand you?

BEN SHELTON: Yeah, couple times of week.

Q. Really? Is this the first year you have done that?

BEN SHELTON: Yeah, honestly first year, but sometimes it rains in Florida. You have to hit indoors. We have a short amount of time. We have to try and figure it out, try and improvise.

Me and my team were like, okay, I don't have a sauna in the complex that I live in, and we're not going to have on-court heat today, so...

Q. Getting the first win not just of the tournament but of a new swing, is that important to set the tone for the U.S. swing?

BEN SHELTON: Yeah, it's really important, just where I want my match count to be going into the US Open, to start off strong here and, you know, be playing again on Thursday and give myself a chance to have a second match.

I think the way these courts play at nighttime is fairly similar to the way the US Open plays during the day. During the day here it's faster, and I think that getting as much exposure as I can with this ball on these courts is important.

Q. So right now it's kind of Sinner and Alcaraz and then everyone else. I think you can make the argument you're close to the everyone-else group. I'm wondering, how big do you think the margins are? And what, in your game, other than obviously your serve that keeps you competitive in any match? What do you think about your game can shrink those margins?

BEN SHELTON: Yeah, I think I'm a good athlete. I think I'm an all-purp player. I don't think a lot of guys are as willing to come to the net anymore.

The time that I beat Sinner, I was coming into the net, no hesitation. I think that's the style of tennis I like to play to compete and be at the top level, and that's the next evolution of my game.

The lack of hesitation, the split-second decisions to take away time, be aggressive, and impose my will on who I'm playing is where I need to be at. It's a process. I'm not the player I want to be yet. I'm not where I want to be in a lot of areas, but I'm improving every year, getting better from the baseline every year.

When I came on tour, I was poor from the baseline. My return numbers were the worst on tour. Now my return numbers are average, above average, top 100, and my serve is the same as where it's been from the start if not a little bit better.

I want to keep continuing to improve, and, you know, I think the exciting thing is there are a lot of areas I see I can improve. Yeah, closing that gap is a good goal for me.

Q. (Question about girlfriend.)

BEN SHELTON: Yeah, I mean, I have been here from sometimes. She doesn't live in the city, but I have enjoyed every time that I got to spend in D.C. I think it's a cool city. I didn't know how much there was in D.C. before being here. And, yeah, now one of my favorite cities.

But she's definitely more famous than me around here. She needs more security walking around the ground. That's for sure. Yeah, it's kind of been cool to see the way the city has wrapped around her.