LONDON :American 10th seed Ben Shelton reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the first time on Monday when a 3-6 6-1 7-6 (1) 7-5 victory over Italian Lorenzo Sonego also gave him the family bragging rights.
Thirty-one years ago Shelton’s father and current coach Bryan lost 10-8 in the fifth set to Christian Bergstrom in the last 16 at Wimbledon in what proved the high-point of his Grand Slam career.
Shelton junior, who has previously reached the semis at the Australian and U.S. Opens, was a little ragged as he dropped his first set of the tournament, but the powerful left-hander found his length and attacked the net more in a dominant second set, and then raced through a third-set tie-break.
In a nip and tuck fourth, Shelton, sporting a Rafa Nadal-style sleeveless vest, delivered an athletic final game to break and take the match, roaring in triumph.
Shelton, 22, was quick to credit his father, watching from the players’ box on Number One Court.
“He kind of inspires the way that I’m playing on grass, the way that I’m moving forward, how I’m cutting off angles, wanting to mix in the serve and volley vintage style of tennis every once in a while,” he said.
“He was a serve and volley – I think I’m better than him from the baseline.”
Shelton came into the match having not only not lost a set, but having dropped only two service games in three rounds.
After beating Sonego at the Australian and French Opens this year and with the Italian coming off a marathon five-hour match on Saturday, Shelton must have been in confident mood, but he was somewhat wild in the first set.
Sonego, also seeking a first Wimbledon quarter-final, was unable to maintain his consistency in the second set and Shelton quickly took command with a double break.
It looked like a relatively straightforward third set too as Shelton ramped up the power to grab an early break but Sonego dug in superbly to break back, only to be blown away 7-1 in the tie-break.
Sonego forced a rare break point at 2-2 in the fourth but Shelton somehow scrambled a brilliant John McEnroe-style pick-up half-volley to save it and went on to hold.
They then went toe to toe until the thrilling final game, highlighted by Shelton’s fabulous running forehand, after which he leaped a mile off the ground to punch the air in celebration.
Shelton duly completed the win to earn a probable quarter-final against another Italian, world number one Jannik Sinner, where a victory would make it three years in a row that an American had made the semi-finals after Taylor Fritz and Chris Eubanks.
“It was difficult,” Shelton said. “Every time I needed a big point, he comes up with a highlight shot, and maybe the same vice-versa, but it was a lot of fun.
“I’m happy with the way that I played that last game. I felt like that was my best tennis, my best returning, and it’s what I’m going to need to continue in this tournament.
“To end the match with that sort of game gives me a lot of confidence.”
