US OPEN

September 11, 2026

Bryan Shelton

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Bryan, welcome. Your thoughts on Ben's play tonight?

BRYAN SHELTON: I thought it was a fantastic match. You know, it's one of those where, you know, he didn't get the started that he wanted, you know, losing that -- I think he got broken late in the set.

But, you know, Ben has just been so resilient, and I think that's the fun part for me as coach and dad is just when he's facing adversity this whole tournament, you know, just how he kind of turns it up a notch and was able to get out and running pretty quickly in the second set and kind of flipped the switch.

So I think that was super, super impressive. Then the way he was able to focus throughout the match. So many long games on Frances's serve, and he just kept pounding and pounding and pounding and just staying there.

Frances did a good job to wiggle out of some of those games and extend the sets and things like that, but just thought that Ben just was resilient in the beginning and then was focused throughout the rest of the match.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. As a former player, I know you're not one to look too far ahead, but I imagine you've sort of envisioned these type of moments, these opportunities that are now in front of Ben.

BRYAN SHELTON: You know, that's always been the goal for him is to try to be around at the tail end of these tournaments, like he talked about post-match. He wants to be playing on Fridays and Saturdays and Sundays in these type of events.

You know, to do it here at the US Open and be playing on the final day, this kid, you know, it's kind of surreal. I didn't think he was going to even get into this sport, and then to be in the sport and to be where he's at right now, I mean, it's just hard to believe, hard to believe and just super, super grateful.

Q. Ben referenced your mother on the court there, and I was wondering if you might be able to just tell us a little bit about her and your parents and the kind of relationship they had? He mentioned that she was the reason you were able to play tennis. Just if you could sort of tell us sort of the story.

BRYAN SHELTON: Moms are special. My mom was super special.

Q. In Alabama, I imagine?

BRYAN SHELTON: Yeah, I grew up in Alabama. I'm not going to stay too long on that.

Just a special lady who gave her kids opportunities to do the things they were passionate about, and I was passionate about playing tennis at a young age. She supported that. My dad did, too, even though it was a little bit begrudgingly because, you know, lower-middle class probably and not a lot of money to try to do this at a high level. It's super expensive.

My mom just made the sacrifices to make it happen. I mean, I won't get into all the details, but it wasn't easy. Then her being able to impact Ben and his life and my daughter Emma as well, you know, was great, that she was able to pass down some of the same principles and values that she passed down to me, she was able to give them as well.

Just nice for Ben to recognize that tonight. It's been a tough year for us losing her, losing my coach and mentor, Bill Tym, this same year, you know, losing both of the people with my dad that were so influential in my life and my kids' lives.

Been a tough year, but there's been so many blessings and so many good things, like tonight.

Q. I wanted to ask about the final, playing Zverev. It's been a tough head-to-head for Ben so far. What do you think can change that? Just how well he's playing, are there things you know tactically you need to do differently to change the direction that matchup has been going?

BRYAN SHELTON: Yeah, I think, you know, Ben has been trending in the right direction throughout this year. I think four titles on different surfaces kind of is evidence of it.

I think part of the reason is that he's become more mature and more disciplined on the court. He's willing to suffer a little bit in the rallies and go deeper and really use his athleticism.

Gabe Echevarria, his strength coach and conditioning coach, I'm telling you, those guys went to work after Wimbledon. Wimbledon was a sour pill, losing in the first round there. But he didn't hang his head. He just got to work in the heat in Florida and put in some unbelievable weeks of work there. I think he's seeing the fruits of the labor.

Q. You talk about Ben and wanting to be there on the kind of tail end of these tournaments. I wonder how you guys have those conversations. Like, are you quite detailed and you visualize and talk through them like some athletes will to prepare themselves, or do you not talk about them? When you do talk about those dreams and goals?

BRYAN SHELTON: We certainly put it out there, because those are the things that motivate him. He likes to think about where he stands in the race to Turin. He likes to see where his ranking's at. He's competitive with every single guy out here on the tour. He's friendly with all of them, but man, he's so competitive.

So those things kind of fire him up. We put those carrots in front of him, and he's got an amazing record on Sundays. Don't want to jinx him here, but if you look at his record throughout his career, you know, he's played well on Sundays.

So that's where he wants to be. He feels like he's going to play his best tennis at the end of the week, or end of the two weeks. So glad he has a chance at the US Open.

Q. You mentioned the long games on Frances's serve. I think Ben's return has been really impressive today, against Carlos as well. Can you talk about how that shot has developed over the years and what has allowed him to make such a breakthrough on that shot?

BRYAN SHELTON: I think tactically he understands what returning is about now. Ben came onto the tour, everything happened so fast. His game wasn't completely formed. It still isn't.

A lot of these guys are well put together when they show up out here, and Ben wasn't. The return was something that was a weakness and understanding how to actually tactically play the returns as well.

He knows how to change positions based on the serve that he's receiving. He knows where he should be on the deuce court. He knows where he should stand on the ad court. That's the starting point. Then he knows what he's trying to do with the return. So I think having the understanding is most important, and then you've got to get the reps.

I'm fortunate that I can still serve. A lot of days, 400, 500 serves I'm serving to him all kind of different serves, so he's getting a ton of reps throughout the year, throughout the season.

He reps it out every day he practices. He reps it out on match days, and over time it's just slowly getting better. He's like a tortoise. Over time he gets better and better.

Q. With regard to the way Ben was able to bounce back after the victory over Carlos, I wonder how you feel about that, the tolerance for the stress that he's been through, not only the whole tournament, but over these last two matches, that must say that he's probably readier than ever before to do what he's doing right now.

BRYAN SHELTON: I think you learn from your experiences. One bad experience for him, there was a silver lining in it, but he won Montreal, he went to Cincinnati, and we said, This is going to be the toughest day you're going to have playing against Faria in the first round in Cincinnati after winning a title.

Very few people come from that and have another good tournament the next week, and he didn't, you know? He lost first round.

I remember talking to Rafa a couple of days after that match. I called him up, and I was talking to him. Rafa was, like, You know, you got to be able to get through that first one and have the day off and then be able to get your best tennis again the next week.

So it was a lesson for Ben that you've got to be able to bounce back when good things happen just as you have to bounce back when adversity happens or tough things go on.

So we talked about him beating Carlos and how important it's really going to be for him to understand that this one is going to be even tougher tonight, you know, to bounce back after that, because a lot of people want to rest after they've had something good and want to celebrate it.

What we say is don't celebrate until you separate, so you've got to win the next match. You've got to consolidate it. Then somewhere hopefully next week we can celebrate a little bit.