MUBADALA CITI DC OPEN

July 24, 2025

Ben Shelton

Press Conference

B. SHELTON/G. Diallo

6-3, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Congratulations on the win. I know time on court isn't necessarily a goal, but you have been exactly two hours in two matches, obviously a biproduct of how well you have been serving. How important is it to keep that going, especially early in this summer swing?

BEN SHELTON: I guess there's two ways to think about it. Yeah, it's good for me in the short term right now to get off the court quick and be ready for my next match, which is tomorrow. If you keep winning here, you play every day.

But in the long term, getting court time, getting used to being out in that heat, regardless, you get to the US Open, you're going to be out there for three hours at some point if not longer.

Yeah, I think there's two sides to it.

Q. You mentioned back at the French Open a lot of different sports fans who maybe aren't as keyed into tennis a little more intrigued due to the TNT coverage and the House of Highlights on YouTube. Do you personally feel a difference and the support now that you're back in the States competing because of that coverage?

BEN SHELTON: Yeah, 100%. I think that they did the best job that any slam has done. They used the resources that they had, the social media channels that they own, to really amplify and show the highlights. It was like they were excited to share things and post things on Instagram and there was content flowing all the time. They were posting across all platforms.

So I thought it was huge. I thought they did a great job. I think sometimes with some of the other slams, to get like an Instagram post from whomever has the media rights with their pages, it's almost like it's mandatory like a number of posts they have to do, but it's not like it's flowing all the time. That's why I felt the French Open was huge, just because the support and what people said about it back home, people reaching out to me, talking about it, that's kind of the first time that that happened and why I kind of realized or saw something.

Q. Following up on that platform discussion, I recently noticed you just cracked a million on Instagram. Do you personally feel your professional athlete stature is being elevated maybe not just in tennis but sport as a whole? How do you deal with some of the demands and responsibilities that come with that?

BEN SHELTON: Yeah, I mean, I think our sport is growing, for sure. I think that tennis players are becoming more known to the casual sports fan than, you know, before.

I feel that tennis has always been fairly niche, depending on the era. Yes, there are athletes who have transcended the sport: Serena, Venus, who is practicing back there right now, the Big Three on the men's side.

But I think that for the most part, how known the average tennis player is is pretty high right now compared to where it's been before. Yeah, it's cool to be a part of it.

Q. There were a couple of close calls with serves going into the stands today. I saw you check on a couple of fans. Do you get nervous when you see a ball go into the stands like that? Has it ever gotten into your head where you're worried that a serve or a forehand could hurt somebody in the crowd?

BEN SHELTON: Yeah. I was a little bit annoyed at the beginning of the match, because I told the chair umpire before the match started, I said, Hey, the balls are going to be going into the front row with how hot it is, playing Diallo. Can you just announce and make a warning if you're sitting in the first couple of rows behind the court, please pay attention, look when they are serving. I don't want to get anyone hit in the face and eyes where the trajectory is going, right in people's faces.

And he kind of like laughed at me. I'm, like, I'm serious, dude. He didn't say anything.

The first 139 that Diallo sent into the crowd, I'm looking at him, like, Bro, I told you. Then he made the announcement later, which these fences in the back are really low and it is a hazard, and he should have said something, especially I told him, and he didn't believe me, but it is what it is (smiling).

Q. During Wimbledon you mentioned being happy with some improvements you made in your game, return and backhand and movement and stuff. How happy are you with that part of the game? The first two matches you're breaking serve a lot.

BEN SHELTON: Yeah, I think playing on the surfaces we play on in Europe for the majority of the year is huge for development, especially for me, just because of the uncertain bounces, the difficulty of movement, and the longer points. There is so much room for improvement and development in the game of tennis on those surfaces.

Yeah, I feel really good about my game coming back to the hard courts, a sure surface for moving, a surface that I'm more used to playing on, and, you know, you get exact bounces most of the time every time.

So for me, I feel really good with how I'm returning with the production I'm getting out of my serve and the way I'm moving, for sure.

Q. A little off-topic, but I spoke with Kent Kinnear yesterday, and he told me how at the French Open this year you saw a bunch of junior players practicing, and you went over and gave them a pump-up speech to fire them up. Why is it so important to you to want to have those interactions with the junior players, and is that something you and Frances and other top guys talk about, about inspiring that next generation?

BEN SHELTON: Yeah. I mean, I'm not gonna speak for the other guys. Obviously they all have their internal things that drive them.

For me, I think inspiring younger people is the coolest part that we have in this sport. Yes, it's very cool to have fans that are adults and people who have watched the sport for forever and appreciate the game of tennis, love you, but for me it's like little kids, younger kids, people get inspired.

I love the young group of American kids that we have. I train in Lake Nona, so they have those kids in all the time either staying in the dorms or some of them live and train there, whether it's Jack Kennedy or a million other kids. I could go on and on the list. They have them in and out every week.

I become friends with those guys. It's not a one-time pump-up speech. I text with them. I know them. If they are there at the end of the day, want a ride home, do you want me to drive you to your apartment?

Yeah, I just got to know them well. I don't see them when I'm out on tour. Obviously there are not junior events at any of these tournaments. When I do go deep in the slam and get to see them around the site or in practice courts or locker room, it's pretty cool, because I don't see them much unless I'm at home.

Q. Going back to what you were talking about earlier about popularity of tennis maybe moving away from the idea of a niche sport and being more broadly popular and followed, especially in this country, what sort of correlation do you think there might be and maybe role in helping that growth with consistent success by Americans in the Grand Slam tournaments? And now there has been this run of every time there is two or three of you in the quarters, one or two of you in the semis, Fritz made that final in New York.

BEN SHELTON: Yeah, yeah. For me, obviously I love to say "Yeah" to the Americans. But it's a global sport. It's not just the Americans. It's always been a sport that's been pretty closely followed in Europe and one of the big sports in Europe. We have always had European champions.

I think the success in American tennis is evident right now, and there's a lot of names doing great things in tournaments. Seems to be, like, different people all the time. If you look at the last, you know, six slams, it's been a combination of guys who have been in the quarters or semis or made a deep run, whether it's me and Fritz or Tommy and Foe or Fritz and Tommy or Foe and Fritz. That's how it's been on the men's side. It's not just the United States.

You have guys making massive waves like Joao Fonseca in Brazil, how big that guy's rise and fame has been in a massive market that loves sports, passionate about sports. That's just one example.

I think that, you know, the more and more they have these stars in different demographics and regions kind of breaking out and giving the people someone to follow and support is huge for our sport.

Q. Following up on Fritz, what was your thoughts on his multiplication efforts, 50 times 20? What were your thoughts when you saw that? And also, what do you think more generally about the sort of rise of a lot of influencer videos. ATP does a lot of them. They ask people questions and put them on the spot and make content that way. How do you view that change in the social media landscape? Seems to be a pretty common thing you guys are put in. You're put in scenarios to answer questions, you maybe have some funny or embarrassing kind of moment.

BEN SHELTON: Yeah. One, I probably gave Fritz too much of a hard time. He said there were drinks involved. I'm going to give him a little bit of a break on that. He did get it in the end, he got it right. He's a sharp guy, good tennis mind.

You know, I don't know how far he went in school, quite frankly, but that's most tennis players. But he got there in the end, he got it. I'll leave him alone on that.

But on the social media stuff, for me, I like press conferences, I like being able to just sit in one place and have all the questions come in at one time. And if they clip something and put it on social media, that's great.

It is tough, as tennis players, before every tournament, and then after every match, we not only have the press conference but then we have to go and do the little TV and then social media for ATP. And then it just seems like a lot of overlapping stuff, where in other sports, correct me if I'm wrong, I feel like in a lot of other sports, they have their press conference, however long it may be, and then get out of there.

For me that's a lot less tiring, and I will sit here for however long and answer whatever questions. But it is a lot. I understand the power and reach of social media, for sure, but I think it can be overwhelming for a lot of tennis players what we do.