From one left-hander, who won four of his 22 Grand Slam titles at the US Open, to another, who is into his maiden major final in New York. Ben Shelton took advice from legendary Rafael Nadal before his US Open run, and it laid the blueprint for his march to the final, where he will face Alexander Zverev .
“He won Montreal, he went to Cincinnati and we said ‘this is going to be the toughest day you’re going to have’, playing in the first round in Cincinnati after winning a title. He lost first round. However, he will face an uphill battle against Zverev, who has never lost to Shelton in five meetings.
“Very few people come from that and have another good tournament the next week, and he didn’t, you know? But the left-hander is taking confidence from his win over Alcaraz, whom he defeated at the US Open after losing their three previous meetings.
“I know what I’m up against, and I know I have more confidence than ever in my game,” he said.
Those words of wisdom helped the Florida resident reset after his sensational five-set win over Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals. His coach and father, Bryan Shelton, told the media after his son’s semifinal win over compatriot Frances Tiafoe 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 that he had called Nadal last month after Ben suffered a first-round exit in Cincinnati.
“I think you learn from your experiences,” said 60-year-old former ATP pro Shelton.
“What we say is don’t celebrate until you separate. So you’ve got to win the next match. You’ve got to consolidate it. Then somewhere, hopefully next week, we can celebrate a little bit.”
