THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

June 30, 2026

Ben Shelton

Press Conference

O. VIRTANEN/B. Shelton

6-4, 3-6, 6-7, 6-2, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Ben, could you share some initial thoughts on today's match.

BEN SHELTON: Yeah, tough loss. One of the toughest losses I've taken, for sure. Yeah, I got to give a lot of credit to the guy I played, Otto. I thought he played an outstanding match.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. What was working for you when things were going well and what ultimately swung it his way?

BEN SHELTON: I mean, I feel like it was an uphill battle all day today. I was pretty off on my serve spot, so I wasn't getting many free points. I was having to grind through a lot of the games. The guy was playing really good and downhill from the baseline.

Obviously in the second, I was able to get an early break and tough out the third. I think I had 15-40 three separate times in the fifth set. The guy came up with some ridiculous stuff in those moments, really good tennis.

Sometimes it happens like that.

Q. Do you feel like you were being forced to take on riskier shots, even the match point going down the line, or do you feel like you were trying to attempt that because you were struggling from the baseline rallies?

BEN SHELTON: No, I think the way that he was playing, hitting the ball, it definitely forced my hand. He's playing aggressive. He wasn't really making any mistakes. Towards the end, any ball I left semi-hanging, he was ripping a winner, especially in that last game before the tiebreak.

In the tiebreak I was trying to get to the net as much as I could, try to really rush him and not allow him to swing away from the baseline.

Obviously, yeah, I had to be more aggressive with the way he was playing there.

Q. You had a tough loss in Paris and came back and won your next tournament. When you suffer a rough loss like this, what is the routine that gets you out of wanting to throw your racquets in the dumpster or something like that?

BEN SHELTON: I'm usually the type of person that gets back on the court or in the gym the next day. This is definitely one of the toughest losses of my career, coming here at Wimbledon. First time I've lost in the first round here.

I came in playing really good tennis. I didn't even think I played a poor match today. Things just didn't go my way. But I'm going to treat this as any other tournament that finishes, and I'll be right back on the practice courts in a couple days.

Q. You had a lot of early exits in big tournaments this year. Do you see a pattern in emotion management before this event?

BEN SHELTON: Yeah, I mean, I'm not exactly sure what it's been this year. Obviously it's been a complete roller coaster, doing well at big tournaments, obviously quarterfinals of Australia at the beginning of the year, winning three titles, two of them being 500s. Everything else in between I felt has been pretty poor.

Hasn't been a great year for me. It's been a tough year. I've had a lot of really tight matches, deciding set tiebreakers, deciding sets that I've lost.

Yeah, I think that sometimes these things can happen. I think this year it's happened a lot more for me than I would like. Tennis is a game where it usually only takes one to get you back on the right track.

Q. You mentioned this up-and-down year you've had. Do you feel like your level has been that different or margins are small at this level?

BEN SHELTON: I think margins are really small. I'd love to see where I'm at, especially with that clay court season, if I hadn't lost that 7-6 in the third first round in Madrid after winning Munich.

There is a lot you can look back on and wish it could have gone differently. Obviously for me now, it's just focusing on the U.S. hard court swing.

Obviously a much earlier exit here than I would have hoped, but the best part of the season for me is coming up.

Q. Did you allow yourself to think about the opportunity you have in your own quarter?

BEN SHELTON: I never look past the first round.

Q. Do you feel like the margins are even tighter on grass? Time is accelerated; you don't have as much time to step back and regroup.

BEN SHELTON: I think the margins are going to be really small, especially playing on grass. You're playing a guy that can go 140 at will on any serve. I think he definitely averaged a higher first-serve speed than I did today.

To back it up with the way he was playing from the baseline, the way he was defending, shots he was coming up with on the run, the margins are going to be very small.

I thought I put myself in a great position to win at the end. He came up with the goods.

Q. You said you don't look past the first round. How do you stop yourself from seeing who's on the other side of the draw? Yesterday you might have seen Sinner or Novak. How do you prevent yourself from knowing that side of the draw?

BEN SHELTON: I'm not a dumb ass.

I have no clue really in terms of specifics. It's not something that I look at. I'm not looking at social media. I'm not looking at my path at all. It's just kind of focusing on the first round obviously.

If you're not playing the same day as the guy, you probably know he's not in your half of the draw. Past that I'm usually pretty locked in at these tournaments.

Who I'm playing opening match, as you can see here, anybody can come out and win on any particular day. The guy played a great match today and that's what happened.