Ben Shelton reached his first Wimbledon quarterfinal -- doing a round better than his father-turned coach, Bryan, did in 1994 -- by beating Lorenzo Sonego 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (1), 7-5 on Monday.
Shelton, a 22-year-old American, improved to 3-0 against Italy's Sonego in Grand Slam action this season. It's the first time two men faced each other in a year's initial three majors since John McEnroe went 3-0 against Jimmy Connors in 1984.
The 10th-seeded Shelton also eliminated Sonego in the Australian Open's quarterfinals in January, and the French Open's first round in May.
"Every time I need a big point, he comes up with a highlight shot," Shelton said, "and maybe the same, vice versa."
Shelton finished this latest meeting with a flourish, breaking the 47th-ranked Sonego to avoid heading to a tiebreaker, then throwing his head back, yelling "Come on!" and pounding his chest.
"I'm happy with the way that I played that last game. I feel like that was my best tennis, my best returning, and that's what I'm going to need to continue in this tournament," said Shelton, who advanced to a matchup against No. 1 Jannik Sinner or No. 19 Grigor Dimitrov. "So for me to end the match with that sort of game gives me a lot of confidence moving forward."
Shelton became the fourth Black American man to reach the quarterfinals at the All England Club since the Open era began, joining Arthur Ashe (three times), MaliVai Washington (1996) and Christopher Eubanks (2023).
Ashe (UCLA), Washington (Michigan) and Eubanks (Georgia Tech) all played college tennis, as did Shelton, who won the 2022 NCAA singles title for the University of Florida.
Shelton joins No. 5 Taylor Fritz in the quarterfinals, extending a run that has seen two American men reach the last eight in five consecutive Slams. That's the longest streak since it happened in 24 straight majors from the 1991 French Open to the 1997 Australian Open.
Shelton is the youngest American man to reach the Wimbledon quarters since Andy Roddick did so at 21 in 2004. He previously made the semifinals at the 2023 US Open and this year's Australian Open.
Up in the stands at No. 1 Court were Shelton's parents, his sister Emma -- who stuck around at the All England Club after he made a public plea for her not to have to return to her job at Morgan Stanley on Monday, as originally planned -- and his girlfriend, U.S. national soccer team star Trinity Rodman.
"I've got a lot of people that I love over there," Shelton said during his on-court interview.
He credited his father with inspiring the way he plays on grass courts.
"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. He would like to see me coming forward a little bit more than I am. My argument is I think I'm better than him from the baseline," Shelton said.
But he's also showing that he has a knack for success on the slick surface, doing the sorts of things that constitute what Shelton termed "vintage style" tennis of moving forward and cutting off angles and generally being "a little bit unpredictable."
Against Sonego, Shelton won the point on 43 of his 58 trips to the net, including 11 of 17 when serve-and-volleying.
ESPN Research and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
