Box-office Ben Shelton has won the hearts of British tennis fans despite his taunts, writes DAVID COVERDALE... and he's now primed to derail world No 1 Jannik Sinner at Wimbledon
And yet brash Ben Shelton has won the hearts of British tennis fans on his way to the Wimbledon quarter-finals.
When he steps on to No 1 Court to play top seed Jannik Sinner, there is no doubt the crowd will be chiming for Big Ben. In appearance, sleeveless Shelton has evoked memories of another left-hander, Rafa Nadal, the only man to win Wimbledon in a vest. In playing style, he has based his game on another big server, Andy Roddick, the last American man to reach the final here and also to win a Grand Slam.
But in personality, box-office Shelton stands alone. You need only listen to his on-court interviews, which have become a must-watch throughout this tournament.
Following his third-round win over Marton Fucsovics, the 22-year-old issued a public plea to get his sister Emma more time off work so she could stay at Wimbledon to support him. Her employers Morgan Stanley duly obliged. Then, after beating Lorenzo Sonego in the last 16,
he teased interviewer Croft when she asked him about being a 'quarterbacker' as a child.
As it goes, Shelton believes the bullet arm he honed throwing American footballs helped him develop his formidable serve, which was clocked at 150mph earlier this year, one of the fastest of all time. Adding to Shelton's story is the fact he is coached by his father Bryan, who reached the last 16 at Wimbledon in 1994. But another ever-present in his box here has been doting girlfriend Trinity Rodman.
The 23-year-old is a USA footballer and the daughter of NBA legend Dennis Rodman. She is estranged from her dad and was furious when pundit Andrew Castle mentioned him on BBC commentary. 'My dad's not even in MY life,' Rodman — who Castle also mistakenly called Tiffany — wrote on Instagram. 'No need to bring him up during HIS matches when I don't want him talked about during mine.'
Having a celebrity partner, of course, only adds to the stardust of Shelton, who has 1million followers on Instagram and 430,000 on TikTok and is already a hero to youngsters in the US.
'He is a guy kids can relate to,' James Blake, the American former world No 4, told Mail Sport. 'With the TikTok generation, they are all seeing him and looking up to him. Every young player wants to be like him. I was at a junior tournament recently and I saw a kid who had the same hair, the same sleeveless outfit and did everything mimicking Ben.
'He is a really good role model. He's still got a college attitude. He's engaging with the crowd. He's having fun.'
Shelton will hope that fun continues today against Sinner. The 10th seed has lost his last five meetings against the Italian world No 1. But there will be no better time for Shelton to play Sinner. who is nursing an elbow injury he sustained in his lucky fourth-round escape against Grigor Dimitrov, who was forced to retire injured when holding a two-set advantage.
Sinner had an MRI scan yesterday morning and later cancelled his afternoon practice session, but did hit some balls indoors for 30 minutes.
His injury has US fans believing they could be about to see their first men's winner of Wimbledon since Pete Sampras beat Patrick Rafter to win the last of his seven titles 25 years ago, with Taylor Fritz already into the semi-finals.
The fifth seed defeated Russian Karen Khachanov 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 in yesterday's quarter-final to set up a last-four showdown with defending champion Carlos Alcaraz. In doing so, 27-year-old Fritz became the first American man to reach a Wimbledon semi since John Isner seven years ago.
'It's an amazing feeling,' said the US Open runner-up. 'I'm feeling great to get through it. The match was going so well for me for two sets. I felt I couldn't miss and then all of sudden I'm making a ton of mistakes.
'I've never had a match just flip so quickly, so I'm happy with how I came back in the fourth set and got it done. Having played the quarter-finals here twice, and lost in five sets twice, I don't think I could have taken another one. I'm happy I'm going to play the semis here.' Before that, though, it is Big Ben's time.
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