MUBADALA DC OPEN

July 28, 2026

Ben Shelton

Press Conference

B. SHELTON/M. Damm

6-4, 4-6, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Ben, congratulations. You talked post-match on the court about your close relationship and history playing with Martin. What made is it so difficult today? It seemed like it was a very tight match.

BEN SHELTON: Yeah, I thought the guy came out after the rain delay playing at an outstanding level. I thought he was serving well. He was making a lot of really tough volleys, awkward volleys that I made him play, and then that game he broke me. He returned well. He started being really solid from the baseline, even though he's hitting the ball huge.

All those things in kind of five-game, six-game span made it really difficult, and I definitely had to kind of find a way to step up my level compared to the level I was playing at before the rain delay happened to keep up and eventually separate and get the lead back.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Do you order different sorts of meals after wins versus losses? Do you eat your feelings more if it's a loss?

BEN SHELTON: Yeah, sometimes. After Wimby it was definitely like a Five Guys type of... yeah (laughing).

Q. You had a big reaction after winning this match. I'm curious what this sort of means to get this W that was looking in danger tonight, and then after the last few months I don't know if this means more to get out of the first round here?

BEN SHELTON: I think it's huge to start with a win here and just start building your match count moving into the US Open. I think compared to the clay and some of the other swings, you don't have that much time to find your rhythm. If you're out early in two or three of these tournaments, you can struggle in terms of confidence or the level that you are playing at going into the Open.

Obviously this is a good surface for me, and it's a surface that I want to be sharp when I get to New York. These are the type of matches that kind of propel you to playing really good tennis. Obviously breaking a guy who serves at his caliber and plays attacking tennis the way he does three times in a match is big for me, even though I lost my serve twice. But those return games are really key for me in my success.

So being at a place here in D.C. the way the courts play and starting off like that and getting a win and giving myself another opportunity to play a match against a high-level player here is a huge opportunity for me, and I guess that's where the big reaction comes from, but also being a come-from-behind victory.

Q. What's your ideal first-serve percentage and your second-serve percentage, ideal?

BEN SHELTON: What was I at today?

Q. You were in the 60s, 63.

BEN SHELTON: 63? I'd say that's -- between 63 and 70. I don't want to be below 60, for sure. If I'm above 70, either I'm having -- if I'm above 70, 75, either I'm having the absolute best day of my life, or I'm not doing enough with my first serve.

I think that's a sweet spot for me, especially with how good my second serve is. I don't mind double faulting a few times, especially if it's in an aggressive manner and I'm going after spots. I didn't love the way I double faulted some tonight. I thought there was a couple of tentative double faults, which I'm not a fan of.

If I'm just going to put the second serve in the box, obviously I want to be at 100%. But if I'm really going after it, which is what pays off, pays dividends on these type of courts. Especially when it's hot outside and the ball is moving fast and bouncing, which we had a little bit less of today with the rain delay and the conditions. But yeah, somewhere in that range.

Q. What was it like to sit on that loss at Wimbledon for a long time given the extra week this year between Wimbledon and this tournament? What do you do with that time? How did you get yourself psyched up? You guys sort of thrive on getting back out there and competing, and there's nowhere for you to compete all of a sudden.

BEN SHELTON: Yeah, I mean, for me it was a good opportunity to spend some time at home obviously, but not just chilling. I think there was a lot of work for me to put in in terms of my body, my fitness.

I just kind of focused on training like a dog for the three weeks that I had and not taking my foot off the gas and really grinding myself down before coming here and preparing for the tournament.

So for me, it was great. I've had times throughout my career where I've had a lot more match losses in a row than right now. I mean, I won seven matches, six, seven matches, on the grass and lost two. Obviously I lost one that I definitely didn't want to, but it's part of the sport.

In 2023 I went, you know, six months without winning back-to-back matches on tour. It's things that you learn to deal with and live with. Coming into my favorite season, it's a lot more easy to deal with.

Q. Then in terms of getting yourself up for the sort of spot of training --

BEN SHELTON: It's so easy.

Q. It's not hard for you?

BEN SHELTON: To train or to compete here?

Q. No, competing is to get excited about.

BEN SHELTON: Come on, you see the crowd.

Q. No, it's getting your butt out of bed and training, another day of training, when this must feel a little bit far away. Do you have any sort of things that get yourself up for that?

BEN SHELTON: For me it's so easy when you have something disappointing happen. For me that's the easiest part.

You take a bad -- not a bad. Whatever you want to call it, a bad loss. You lose you early in a tournament, an early exit, and it pisses you off. You see everyone else, all your competitors, still playing there in London, still fighting for the title, and you're sitting at home.

I'm not somebody who can just sit still. The training part, getting my ass out of bed and going and putting in work, is the easiest part of my job.

Q. On the topic of early exits, this tournament we've seen a few top Americans lose early. Today Learner lost. So did Tommy Paul. Tiafoe lost last night. I know you mentioned in your pre-tournament press conference that you find the early rounds to kind of be the trap rounds. For you personally, what makes these early round matches so difficult? Then kind of a second part to that question, does your mindset personally change when you witness other people kind of losing early as well? Do you feel like more on edge?

BEN SHELTON: You be rating people's kits on the internet, right, talking about fashion and all or no?

Q. Sometimes.

BEN SHELTON: What did you think about my kit here?

Q. (Off microphone.)

BEN SHELTON: Honestly, it's tough. It's tough, isn't it? The color is kind of fly.

Q. Is it one of your favorites so far?

BEN SHELTON: One of my favorites, yeah. All right, clip that.

No, I think the first couple of rounds can be extremely difficult when you haven't played a match in a while, whatever you've been doing in the previous weeks. Obviously playing on American soil, it's an emotional thing.

I know playing here, especially for me and Foe, it's a tournament we really want to do well in. I think the other guys as well, but Foe and I just have so many ties to this city. It's tough.

I think that being a top American here playing this tournament you also have a target on your back. This tournament is stronger than it's ever been when I've played it. I mean, the draw is kind of a joke this year in terms of the talent that we have. Jodar-Fils first round is insane, in my opinion.

But I think that it is all about how you look at it. My mentality is kind of that it's a great opportunity to get matches, a tune-up event, but also, you know, one that you want to do well at. So obviously I'm going to be competing at my highest level, but also working on a few things. You know, testing racquet setup, game style, everything that I want to hone in over the next four weeks. This is my chance to do it.

My mindset doesn't change when I see other guys going out. I think that it's tough because obviously it's friends, but also competitors. There's so many weeks on tour that guys who lost early this year, probably have a big week in a week or two from now, and all will be forgotten.

Q. Around the park today I saw a bunch of young kids all searching for you, screaming "Ben Shelton," looking for autographs. I'm curious kind of following up on Christian's question, being in Washington this week with so many young people who are looking for you, excited to watch you, is there anything kind of either weighing on your mind as an American, or going into your next match, are you going to try and play as free as possible and just kind of concentrate on tweaking your game and tuning up a few things, as you mentioned?

BEN SHELTON: I mean, 100% it fuels me. That's why I play this sport. That's why I enjoy playing this sport, and I think that this tournament is one of the best in terms of the crowd that you get, the people that I like seeing watch me play.

So many young kids, like you said. No dis to adults, but that's who I want to inspire. That's who I want watching me. That's who I'd love to be a role model for and have them be excited to come and watch me kind of the same way that I was with some of these legends on tour when I was a kid.

That makes the competing part for me, the motivation, that much easier, but yeah, there certainly is a responsibility aspect, how you act on court, what type of competitor you are, the fight that you show, a lot of different things.

I think that honestly I just try to be myself out there, and I think that does resonate with the younger crowd that we see here.

Q. You stole my fashion question.

BEN SHELTON: What?

Q. I do like the sea moss green. It's good.

BEN SHELTON: That's what you call it?

Q. Sea moss green.

BEN SHELTON: Cool.

Q. I was going to ask about the rain delay, which was like a big chunk of time in between your match, and you mentioned an opponent coming out, and he came out hotter in the second half of it. Do you have any tools or tricks that you use personally when almost a match flips on you in a different way, especially when there's been a big break, maybe you cooled down a bit or anything like that? Are there things that you use to sort of switch back in?

BEN SHELTON: I mean, for me I treat it the same as warming up for a match that I'm going out at the beginning, the way I warm up. Obviously it can be a little tricky. You don't know if it's going to rain again. It can be tiring, for sure.

But for me, it's just part of the sport. It's something that you have to get used to. You have to be mentally tough 100%, but it's something that I've dealt with so much this summer and been on the other side of.

In Stuttgart this year I was down a set going to sleep, like, three out of the four matches I played or two out of the four matches I played. That's really, really hard as well.

But I think that having a lead and the other guy getting a chance to reset is never ideal. I would have liked to come out and had started better. I think he took the racquet out of my hands in some areas of the game, and so I've got to give the guy a lot of credit obviously. Yeah, it's just one of those things that you deal with.