Ben Shelton's French Open run ends in Round 4 against Carlos Alcaraz
Ben Shelton made his first trip to the fourth round at Roland-Garros over the weekend, but he ran into a buzzsaw in World No. 2 and reigning French Open champion Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday.
Shelton stole a set, delaying a relatively easy win for Alcaraz by 45 minutes, 7-6(8), 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. The former Gator played the Spanish phenom evenly for most of the first two sets, losing the tiebreak in the first and a late break point in the second. Shelton broke Alcaraz twice in the third set before falling in the fourth and final set. Despite the loss, it's the best Shelton has felt coming out of a match against Alcaraz, who now holds a 3-0 lead in the head-to-head series.
'The most pressure that I thought I've applied," Shelton said. "The most comfortable that I felt in the baseline exchanges. The best I've hit my open-stance backhand when he's put pressure there.'
Alcaraz showed some love for the former Gator after the match as well. Both are 22 years old, but Alcaraz has four more years of pro experience. They are both considered future stars of the sports, with Shelton playing catchup after taking the collegiate route to develop.
'I think we played really complete tennis, with the drop shots, coming to the net, big shots, he stayed there the whole match," Alcaraz said. "It's great having Ben around in these matches, it's great energy for the people. I love watching him play. I want to appreciate the moments I shared with him today.'
Even though Shelton didn't make it into the quarterfinals or further at the French Open, his Round 4 appearance is an improvement on last year's Round 3 exit. He's already taken a step forward in half of the year's Grand Slams, making the semifinals at the Australian Open in January. Wimbledon (Round 4 in 2024) is up next at the end of the month, and the US Open (Round 3 in 2024) at the end of August.
With the results of the French Open, he'll jump back up a spot to the No. 12 spot in the world, tying a career-high ranking set in March. Shelton's next step is to begin competing with the Alcarazs and Jannik Sinner's of the world. He won't hold a top-10 ranking without beating top-10 talent.
Shelton begins his grass court season in June with possible appearances in Germany (Stuttgart), Great Britain (London) and Spain (Mallorca) before Wimbledon.
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