Ben Shelton is aiming to embrace his first Grand Slam final at the US Open as he defeated Frances Tiafoe in four sets.
The American is finally into a first Grand Slam final after a four set victory over Frances Tiafoe on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
It was a big win for Shelton who is now aiming to become the first male American since Andy Roddick to win a Grand Slam.
After the match Shelton acknowledged his team’s involvement in the result and was happy with how calm and focused he was, “Yeah, it’s amazing to be in this position. You know, super pumped for my team more than me, because you know, I got a lot of guys in my corner who have spent a lot of time with me, dedicate their lives to my improvement, betterment, and my tennis game,” Shelton said in his press conference.
“So really happy for my team right now, but obviously we’re not done here. The job is not finished. Super excited to get another opportunity to go out there and show my best on Sunday. Yeah, 100%. I think I was honestly shocked with how calm I was out there today, especially towards the end of the match. Calm, confident, focused. I think that that’s what it takes to be in these positions and win at the highest level.
“I think it’s so much mental. I don’t know. It’s kind of an interesting feeling. Like the last match that I won, definitely had this feeling of ecstacy, it felt like, on top of the world. This match I felt a lot more methodical with how I went about it, how focused I was, finishing the job the way I did and kind of being able to move on to the next and look forward to the finals.”
It was a good win especially as Shelton had to back up his big win over Carlos Alcaraz and the American spoke about why he is so good at backing up his big wins, “It’s everything. It’s emotions. It’s the way that I train. It’s how I practice. It’s then the way that I compete, how focused can I stay. It’s sleeping habits, eating habits, everything,” Shelton explained.
“I think that, you know, you have to — you have to be great in every category to be a champion in this sport, and I think it’s clear the guys who have paved the way and who have done it before, the extremes that you have to go to to try to become the best. I’m the most committed that I’ve ever been to my tennis career, to being the very best version of myself.
“I’ve always been an extremely hard worker, but I think that all the little supplementary categories is where I’ve made the biggest strides as of late.”
It’s now a big match on Sunday as Shelton fights for history and a lot of landmark achievements as he prepares for the biggest match of his career.
The eighth seed admits he is in ‘unchartered territory’ as he looks to embrace the moment and believes he can handle and deal with the nerves, “Yeah, for me, this whole tournament now at this point has been unchartered territory,” Shelton stated.
“I’m in positions I’ve never been in before. I’ve beaten guys — beaten a guy or guys that I have never beaten before. I’m just excited to put it all out on the line. Like, yes, I can think about how cool this moment is and what I’m playing for. At the end of the day, I’m here in New York, I’m hanging out with my team, I’m with my homies playing a little bit of tennis and I’ve been able to downplay the moment pretty well.
“I think for me I got great people around me that keep me grounded and focused and humble, and I think that, you know, these moments I want to cherish, I don’t want to take lightly. But at the same time, it’s very business-like the way I’ve been going about it.
“I think that I handle these big situations or I have in my career pretty well. I feel that confidence and belief take over. The nerves are always there. It’s something that you got to kind of lean into. The nerves are as much there in the first round for me as in the semifinals, and I’m sure that the finals will be the same. following up avoiding, you know, the logical letdown after a big win? How does that actually show up? It’s something you’ve got to be able to overcome, but for me I’m having fun, you know?
“I’m playing against the No. 1 seed, Grand Slam final, playing against a Grand Slam champion trying to get my first. It’s a lot of reasons that this is an enjoyable moment for me and knowing that I can leave it all out there on the court and push myself to the absolute limit in every way and see what I can do is an exciting, exciting thought.”
Heading into Sunday’s final against Alexander Zverev, the German currently leads the head-to-head 5-0.
