The last time an American man won the U.S. Open, or any major championship, Ben Shelton was still in diapers and not even a year old.
But the hard-serving left-hander says breaking the drought is “inevitable,” and he’s leading the charge that might end it two weeks from now at Flushing Meadows.
“The gradual improvement of American players in the rankings over the last three or four years is evidence of the direction we’re heading,” said Shelton, 21. “I think it’s inevitable that we’ll have a Grand Slam champion. I just don’t know when that will be or who it will be.”
Andy Roddick won the U.S. Open in 2003. No American has won a Grand Slam title since.
After reaching the semifinals of last year’s U.S. Open with a 149 mph serve, Shelton is seen by many as the favorite to end this year’s championship drought.
And his experience in that must-see match, and his loss to eventual winner Novak Djokovic, made him an even better player.
“You learn a lot from those experiences, how best to recover from a tough five-set match, how to sleep after a night session here, playing in the grandstands, playing on Court 10, playing on Arthur Ashe,” Shelton said. “There’s a lot to think about.”
“So just getting a little bit more familiar with how the tournament is going to be played, the conditions that can happen, rain delays, different things that can happen … and not panicking when it happens, knowing that some of these things are going to happen and embracing it, that’s what our sport is about.”
Shelton is Florida’s 2022 NCAA singles champion and will compete in Flushing ranked 13th.
For the first time since the week of Feb. 24, 1997, there are five American men in the ATP Top 20.
“This is the culmination of what tennis has been doing in the United States for the last 15 years,” Shelton said. “There are a lot of players my age who are breaking out, and we were doing the right things when they were growing up. It’s a credit to the culture that the United States Tennis Association and the USTA have built. … I’m excited to join and be a part of this journey.”
Some think Shelton is driving the bus.
John McEnroe predicted he would eventually win a Grand Slam title, and Chris Evert predicted he would be the No. 1 server in the world who would take the Americans furthest in Flushing.
“I’m going to choose Shelton because [of] “That left-handed serve is incredible,” Evert said. “I think it’s going to get him a lot of free points. I think he’s going to play the best out of all the Americans.”
To do that, he will have to beat his first-round opponent on Monday, 2020 Open champion Dominic Thiem.
“It’s definitely an exciting first-round match,” Shelton said. “I love playing these big-time matches. It’s unfortunate for Domi to be playing his last Grand Slam tournament because when I first got into tennis, he was one of the big guys on TV every week.”
Joining Shelton are No. 12 Taylor Fritz, No. 14 Tommy Paul, No. 16 Sebastian Korda and No. 20 Francis Tiafoe. Who will be the first from this group to win a Grand Slam title?
“If you think I’m going to say anyone but me, you’re crazy,” laughed Tiafoe, who faces fellow American Aleksandar Kovacevic on Monday. “It’s hard to say anyone but me, but ability-wise, they all have the ability to do it. [Korda] Probably. I like the way he plays. He’s super, super complete.”
Shelton beat Tiafoe in the quarterfinals of last year’s British Open but lost to eventual winner Djokovic in the semifinals.
In the event of a tie, Shelton and Tiafoe would face off again in the third round, with the winner moving on to face Djokovic in the fourth round.
