Shelton’s call to Rafa Nadal for the US Open: “It was a lesson, don’t celebrate prematurely”
Bryan Shelton 60 years old, he was No. 55 in the world ranking, he won two ATP titles during his career. He then served as a coach at the university level, directing the Georgia Tech women’s team and the Florida Gators men’s team, where he had his son Ben under his discipline, with whom he began his professional adventure in 2023.
It didn’t take long Ben Shelton in improving the results of his father, with whom he is experiencing a very special moment in New York. The left-handed tennis player from Atlanta (his father is originally from Alabama) will play this Sunday, at 8:00 p.m., in his first Grand Slam final, against the German Alexander Zverev who is playing his third in a row, being Roland Garros champion.
“Ben has matured and is more disciplined on the court, with what he has to do at all times. He knows how to suffer,” says Bryan in his public appearance before the media after the victory over Frances Tiafoe.
The technician revealed that he had called Rafa NadalBen once won the ATP Masters 1000 in Montreal, but was not able to overcome his first match at the 1000 in Cincinnati, days later and with the US Open as the next event.
“I remember talking to Rafa a couple of days later. Rafa told me that ‘you have to be able to get through that first match, then have the day off and then be able to display your best tennis that week after the title.’
Nadal knows well the difficulty of having to barely enjoy a trophy, because days later he traveled to another city with the obligation to continue winning, even under different conditions. A touch of attention that coming from him could have penetrated Ben more.
This is what he emphasized Bryan Shelton. “You have to know how to recover when good things happen, just as when bad things happen. In the face of adversity or difficulty you have to react, try to overcome them,” he explained.
The conversation with Rafa NadaIt was put into practice when Ben Shelton defeated in the quarterfinals Carlos Alcaraz, the current US Open champion. The euphoria had to be tempered.
As Nadal moved him through Brian“You don’t have to celebrate too soon. Ben and I talked about it, that it would be even harder to recover from having beaten Carlos, that the next game would be even more difficult because of it. We have to consolidate that success, win the next game. And hopefully we can celebrate a little next week,” when the tournament has concluded.
