Ben Shelton has admitted that he prefers a tougher opening round as he defeated Ugo Humbert at the Australian Open.
Last year’s semi-finalist was given a very tough first round match against the Frenchman but came through 6-3 7-6 7-6 in a tight contest.
Speaking after the match Shelton was happy to come through in straight sets and admitted he prefers a tough opening round contest, “I mean, the way he was playing, too, in form, what he did last week, he was probably the toughest non-seeded player in the draw. One of a handful, for sure,” Shelton stated in his press conference.
“I don’t want to disrespect anybody, but he was definitely one of them. I know that going in. That’s almost good for me, because I know that I have to bring it, and it feels like a big match right out of the gate. So some of the traps that you can set for yourself thinking that, you know, a first-round match is going to be easy at a slam, it’s just kind of out of the way.
“Did I think I was going to go through this match in three sets? No, I was prepared for more. But once I got out there and saw the way that I was serving today and moving and how comfortable I felt on the court, it just gave me a lot of confidence.”
The last time Shelton was at a Grand Slam, the American left the court in tears after retiring from his match at the US Open.
However Shelton is now happy to be returning to Grand Slam tennis and said that he handled the injury well from a mental perspective, “Yeah, it’s great. I mean, slams are my favourite tournaments. I’m always going to show up at slams. Always going to be excited to be there. It feels like years ago that that happened,” Shelton acknowledged in his press conference.
“I know it was only four months ago, but just a small bump in the road. Yeah, like I said, just really excited to be here in Australia. Certainly one of my favorite tournaments. Yeah, I feel good about the way I’m playing.
“I guess I got my, like, initial ultrasound before I went into the press room, so I kind of knew that structurally my shoulder looked good. You know, being out for a month, there’s a lot worse things. I definitely have a good team, so I was confident in my ability to get back.
“I would say I was more, like, worried when I was getting back on the court and kind of seeing how it felt hitting forehands. That was the part that was a little more nerve-wracking.”
It’s good to see Shelton back on the tennis court as he aims to repeat his success from last year where he lost in the final four.
The other big story from the Australian Open is the success of the college players with 25 making the main draw.
Speaking on college players Shelton said that there is a lot of character building when playing college tennis as he praised their mental toughness, “Yeah, I think college players are dogs for the most part. I don’t feel like there’s that many college players who come on tour and make it and are soft,” Shelton explained.
“I think you’ve got to get used to dealing with a lot when you’re in college. Not everything is catered to you. Being a professional tennis player is a very self-centered job. Everything is catered to you, you know, what your team does for you.
“You have all these people trying to make your life easier, and you can kind of lose sight of life, I guess. But when you’re a college player, you better keep your grades up in school and focus on school, or you’re not going to be eligible. You got other teammates who you got to uplift. And the coach isn’t just thinking about you, he’s thinking about all ten guys.
“You got to think about how you can be a better teammate, because I’ll tell you, going into, like, a college team and you think everything is about you, life is not going to be fun and the guys on the team aren’t going to like you.
“So I think that’s some of the lessons that you learn being a college player, and I think that it definitely builds character.”
Shelton will face Australian qualifier Dane Sweeney in the second round.
