After overcoming Matteo Gigante in straight sets on May 30, 2025, world No. 13 Ben Shelton bowed out of the French Open in the fourth round after a valiant 4-set match against world No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz.
The tournament was not all as smooth as the third-round victory, as Shelton was tested against Italian Lorenzo Sonego in a five-set first-round thriller. His second-round victory — an unfortunate walkover against Hugo Gaston — came when the Frenchman was forced to withdraw due to an abdominal injury.
Shelton finished his run — a career-best finish in the French Open — in a courageous performance against the Spaniard. This tournament showing was yet another step in the journey that started right here on campus for Shelton.
Ben’s father, Bryan Shelton ’89, is a Tech graduate and a member of the Institute’s Athletic Hall of Fame through his own success on the court, including an ACC championship in 1985 and All-American honors in 1988.
After an eight-year professional career, Shelton returned to campus in 1999 to coach the Jackets’ women’s tennis team,leading them to a national championship in 2007.
While Shelton was coaching, Ben was born and raised in Atlanta. He rode bikes around the tennis facility, but his main love was football — many Jackets, including Calvin Johnson ’07, would stop by, play catch and even go to his birthday parties.
At age 12, Shelton shelved his love for football to fully pursue tennis, and eventually committed to the University of Florida, where his father was then coaching. In 2021, he won the national championship-clinching match for the Gators.
After forgoing some eligibility in 2022 to turn professional — with his dad stepping away from the Gators to coach him full time — he made his ATP Tour debut in the Atlanta Open in Midtown, where he won his first-round match before losing a nail-biter to John Isner.
He has since won two ATP titles and reached the semifinals of both the 2023 U.S. Open and the 2025 Australian Open this January.
Shelton will look to leverage his powerful left-handed serve — which he and his father attribute to childhood football throws with Johnson — to continue his progress at Wimbledon in late June.
The city of Atlanta and the Georgia Tech community will be cheering him on as he continues to chase his first Grand Slam singles title. Should he win, it would mark the first men’s singles Grand Slam championship won by an American in 22 years.
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