Ben Shelton has praised for Frances Tiafoe for bringing in a bigger audience ahead of their US Open rematch on Friday.
Shelton reached the third round in New York with a straight sets win over Roberto Bautista Agut.
Last year’s semi-finalist has a lot of points to defend and has made a bright start to his US Open campaign so far.
Speaking after his win over Bautista Agut, Shelton admitted he isn’t playing his best tennis but is happy with the way he is handling the big moments, “I didn’t feel like I came out playing my best tennis. I don’t feel like I had a great rhythm at the start of the match,” Shelton honestly assessed in his press conference.
“Grandstand is a fast court this year, faster than the other two stadiums, and slightly slanted sideways as well. So it’s a bit of a different feeling playing on that court. But I thought I competed well in the big moments today, came up with the goods on return of serve and forehands when I really needed them. I was happy with how things turned out.”
Now Shelton can focus on a match with Frances Tiafoe as the pair are set to battle for a place in the second week.
It’s a rematch from their quarter-final clash last year which Shelton won in four sets and was the birth of Shelton’s telephone celebration.
Shelton described the occasion as ‘electric’ as he has been waiting for this rematch for a long time, “Yeah, I’m excited,” Shelton said with delight.
“These are the type of matches that I love, that I live for. Being able to do it a little bit earlier in this draw, it still feels the same. Still feels like a huge match and one that I’m really excited for.
“I know that the people love him here. Probably more than me. He’s electric here, and his crowds are electric here. I was watching his match on Louis the other night, and it was pretty cool to watch. We’re good friends. It will be a battle. It will be a war just like the last two times we’ve played. Yeah, I’m more than excited to be out there with him again.”
Playing Tiafoe is no easy task for any player as Shelton knows all to well as the 13th seed described his opponent as crafty and knows he will have to raise his level if he wants to reach the last 16, “I think it’s tough playing a difficult Tiafoe because he’s good at flipping points. He has the attacking game obviously where he can take time away from you, especially on that backhand wing,” Shelton explained.
“He’s crafty. He can win a lot of the cat-and-mouse points at the net, and he does a great job flying in when he has you out of position and finishing off volleys. I think when he’s playing his best tennis he’s doing that a lot.
“I think it’s also tough. He’s good at flipping points. He’s got, like, special hand skills off the backhand wing. So if you come into net and you don’t come with authority and cover the right spot, he can burn you.”
Finally Shelton praised Tiafoe for the way he brings new fans into the sport who don’t normally followed tennis.
The 13th seed also praised Carlos Alcaraz for doing similar things in Europe, “Frances is probably the best in our sport in the recent years on the American side of reaching that casual sports fan, being the guy that gets on ESPN or mainstream media,” Shelton finished his press conference by saying.
“He’s got all the hooper friends who come to his matches, travel to see him play, the music industry. I think that he’s done a great job of kind of putting American tennis on the map in different sports and kind of making it cool again.
“It’s always a big opportunity for me and him whenever we play in a moment like this, or any other Americans or players. I think that another guy who has done it obviously in our sport recently is Carlos Alcaraz, 100% on the European side with the footballers and Real Madrid at the Madrid Open and a few other things.
“I think it’s really important that our sport continues to grow, and that’s reaching young people and reaching out to fans who are not necessarily tennis fans, but just like you said, casual sports fans.”
