MELBOURNE — After he lost the opening set, Atlanta native Ben Shelton won three straight sets on Monday to advance to the Australian Open quarterfinals.
Shelton defeated Casper Ruud (3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4) and will face Jannik Sinner in a rematch of last year’s semifinal match in Melbourne.
“I wanted to be here. I wanted to give myself another shot,” he said on ESPN. “I have a lot more that I want to do here and a lot more to prove.”
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Shelton was born in Atlanta and raised here for the first half of his life.
“I lived there until I was like 11 years old, something like that. So first 11 years of my life, I lived there, but it’s always, you know, been my favorite city,” Shelton previously told Channel 2’s Karyn Greer.
Shelton comes from an accomplished tennis family.
His father, Bryan Shelton, is a former All-American at Georgia Tech and coached the women’s tennis team. His mother, Lisa, was also a highly ranked tennis player.
Bryan still serves as Ben’s coach today.
“My dad kind of paved the way. Being a black kid in Alabama in the 70s and 80s, growing up, trying to play tennis predominantly, you know, a white sport at the time, or pretty much an all-white sport at the time, was not easy,” Shelton said.
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