Ben Shelton has said that the success of American tennis players doesn’t take the pressure off him as he prepares for the third round of the Australian Open.
Shelton secured his passage into the third round with a four set win over the returning Pablo Carreno Busta.
It was a hard-fought contest that saw Shelton lose a third set tiebreak but regained his composure to secure a place in the third round.
After the win Shelton admitted he wouldn’t have liked to play Carreno Busta in his prime form, “Yeah, it was a tough one, playing against a guy who’s got a lot of experience, a lot of success in slams, someone who you know is not afraid to go the distance,” Shelton started his press conference by saying.
“I learned that I definitely would not have wanted to see that guy in his prime. I’m not saying he couldn’t get back to that same level. He showed some stuff today that was really, really tricky to deal with. Obviously I was a young kid watching him in the quarters and semis of slams, when I’m sitting on the couch at home.
“Definitely started seeing some flashbacks today, especially in that third set. I think the way that he stays composed and can counterpunch, can play patient from the baseline, but patiently aggressive, not overhit. Makes you feel like the court is so big. You have a lot of ground to cover. I thought those were all things that he did a great job of.”
The American’s patience is being rewarded and he now is one of six male American players still in the draw.
Normally that could take the pressure off someone like Shelton but the American’s mentality is different as he always carries the pressure with him in every match.
Speaking about the topic, Shelton said he is embracing the ‘healthy’ competition as we approach the second week, “No, I wouldn’t say it takes pressure off. Everyone’s playing for themselves here,” the American dismissively stated.
“I think there’s a healthy competition between us. I obviously love to see those guys do well. Yeah, it’s a lot of fun to be in this era of American tennis. Most likely after this tournament, we’ll have at least two guys in the top 10.
“There’s a lot more coming, so… For me, I don’t really watch anyone else closely during the tournament. I’ll check the scores, watch highlights from my friends’ matches every once in a while. I’m more or less just focused on myself.”
Next up for Shelton is Italian Lorenzo Musetti, which will be a tricky match for the American given that Musetti leads the head-to-head 2-0.
However Shelton isn’t thinking about that heading into Saturday’s crunch contest, “Honestly, win or lose, I’m trying to learn something from the last match I played. If you won the match before, you know that the guy’s going to try to do something different to flip the script,” Shelton stated.
“Obviously if you lost the match, you’re the guy who’s got to change something up. I don’t really mind either way. Obviously you want to look at things that worked when you played, look at things that didn’t work that you want to change.
“I think also for me, being in a Grand Slam is a different game. I can’t as much compare playing guys in two-out-of-three sets than three-out-of-five. It’s a different beast. It’s where I play my best tennis. That’s not something that I look at as much, no.”
