Ben Shelton recently opened up about an “argument” he had with his father and coach, Bryan Shelton, while competing on grass courts. The World No. 10 has reached the quarterfinals at the 2025 Wimbledon Championships, marking his first one at this Grand Slam.
Seeded 10th at the London Major, Shelton began his run by defeating qualifier Alex Bolt, Rinky Hijikata, and lucky loser Márton Fucsovics in the first three rounds. In the fourth round, he faced Lorenzo Sonego and secured a comeback victory, 3-6, 6-1, 7-6(1), 7-5, securing his place in the QF.
Ben Shelton Opens About Disagreement With Father Bryan While Playing on Grass Courts
In a post-match on-court interview following his victory over Sonego, Shelton credited his father, Bryan, as his source of inspiration for his grass-court play. He stated that Bryan, who also serves as his coach, consistently encourages him to adopt a more aggressive approach at the net. While acknowledging that his father may excel in coming forward and serving, Ben asserted that he is the stronger baseline player between the two.
“Oh, definitely my dad. He was in the round of 16 here, 31 years ago, give or take. He was a serve-and-volleyer. Big serve, came forward all the time, and he’d like to see me coming forward a little bit more than I am. My argument is that I think I’m better than him from the baseline, and he has a better serve than me, maybe,” Shelton said.
The World No. 10 mentioned that Bryan puts together a plan and details how to execute it on the court, which he said has yielded positive results thus far.
“So 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 style, vintage style in tennis every once in a while, and be a little bit unpredictable on the court,” he added.
Doing it in front of those who taught you how 🥹
Ben Shelton is enjoying a fantastic grass court season – and he credits his father, former professional Bryan, as his inspiration for playing on the surface ♥️#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/w0DX0VZtuO
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 7, 2025
Bryan achieved his best singles result at Wimbledon in 1994. He had secured his spot in the main draw by winning his matches in the qualifying rounds. At the main draw, Bryan defeated Michael Stich 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 in the first round. He then triumphed over Karim Alami and Jason Stoltenberg in the following rounds. His run at the Major ended when he fell 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 8-10 to Christian Bergström in the fourth round.
Shelton Set To Face Three-Time Grand Slam Winner at the 2025 Wimbledon Championships QF
Meanwhile, following his victory over Sonego in the fourth round of the 2025 Wimbledon Championships, Shelton is set to face top seed Jannik Sinner in the quarterfinals.
Sinner began his campaign at the grass-court Grand Slam with a win against fellow Italian Luca Nardi, securing a straight-sets victory. He then overcame Aleksandar Vukic and Pedro Martínez with ease.
The World No. 1 advanced to the quarterfinals after his fourth-round opponent, 19th seed Grigor Dimitrov, was forced to retire during the third set of their match due to a right pectoral muscle injury. The game concluded with the score standing at 6-3, 7-5, 2-2 retd.
Shelton and Sinner have met six times on the ATP Tour, with the three-time Grand Slam champion emerging victorious in five of those encounters. Their most recent encounter was in the semifinals of the 2025 Australian Open, where Sinner won with a scoreline of 7-6(2), 6-2, 6-2, before going on to claim his second Australian Open title and his third Grand Slam title overall.
The winner of the quarterfinal match between Shelton and Sinner at the 2025 Wimbledon Championships will advance to the semifinals and face either sixth seed Novak Djokovic or 22nd seed Flavio Cobolli.
