Wimbledon star has the last laugh after being booed during post-match speech
Ben Shelton will have his lucky charm with him when he takes on Lorenzo Sonego in the last 16 of Wimbledon after his public plea came good. Shelton beat Martin Fucsovics on Saturday evening 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-2 to equal his best ever run at Wimbledon – and he has put his form down to his comfort off the court.
The American left-hander served rockets and powered his way past the world No.105 on Court One. The No.10 seed is yet to drop a set in wins over Alex Bolt, Rinky Hijikata and Fucsovics and will be the favourite when he takes on Sonego on Monday after the Italian clinched a five-set win.
Sonego battled past Brandon Nakashima in the longest match of the tournament so far, at five hours and four minutes. And if he is going to reach the quarter finals then Sonego will have to overcome Shelton and his lucky charm: his sister Emma.
Speaking to BBC interviewer Rishi Persad after beating Fucsovics, Shelton said: 'I've been playing well this week. It's not just me here, I have a great team. My parents are here, my girlfriend is here. Also, my sister is here – she's been here for every match I've played at this tournament so far, she's been a lucky charm.
'But she has work back in the US starting Monday. She works for Morgan Stanley…' The mention of the American investment bank sparked boos from the Wimbledon crowd, with the cameras catching Emma hiding her face and laughing.
After hearing boos, Shelton responded: 'Hey! Come on now! She works for Morgan Stanley, so if any of y'all have connects and can get her a couple more days off so we can keep this rolling, that'd be great!'
The 22-year-old later had some good news to share with his 1 million Instagram followers. In a clip showing his sister celebrating after getting off the phone, Shelton said with a grin: 'Yo, you got the week off, or what? Shout out Morgan Stanley.'
Shelton has been loving his time in south west London. 'I had a lot of fun,' he said. 'It's always special playing at Wimbledon. This is my third time playing on Court No 1. Hopefully I get a few more matches on one of these two big courts. I'm trying to make my way to Centre Court. Maybe I'll get there one day.'
Speaking about his team, he added: 'Yeah, it's huge, not just being on the court, but we're staying in a house. To have friends and family, people to hang out with, people my age, it's nice. We've really enjoyed it.
'Obviously [I'm] really close to my sister. So all of us have kind of, you know, been having fun this week, enjoying the off days. The match days the same.
'Yeah, it's been great. It's important to me. The tennis season's long. The times where you can get people together to come [and] travel with you or be at a tournament, especially if it's a big tournament, it's a lot of fun. I know that me and my whole family, everybody enjoys it.'
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