Threeand a half years after becoming the NCAA singles champion for Florida Gators, Ben Shelton is the year-end top-10 player. The young American with a booming serve embraced his career-best run in 2025.
A left-hander collected 40 victories and lifted his first Masters 1000 crown in Toronto after beating three rivals in the deciding tie break. Shelton competed at the ATP Finals last week for the first time, gathering another nice experience.
The young gun even cracked the top-5 for the first time in a career before dropping all three round-robin matches in Turin, settling for the year-end no. 9 spot. As tennis never stops, Ben returned home and headed to theJunior Tennis Champions Center in College Park, Maryland.
Instead of heading toward some exotic destination like many of his rivals, Shelton stayed on the tennis court and embraced training sessions with local starFrances Tiafoe.
The more experienced American experienced ups and downs in 2025, collecting a 26-23 run and finishing barely inside the top-30. Tiafoe lost eight of the final 14 matches of the season and wrapped up the year after Shanghai.
He wants to make a fresh start in 2026, and David Witt will not be in his coaching box, with the two parting ways in October. Seeing Frances on the tennis court in Maryland is anything but strange.
However, no one expected to see Shelton joining him following a grueling season and the ATP Finals campaign. A left-hander lost all three tie breaks in Turin, falling to Alexander Zverev, Jannik Sinner and Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Despite the losses and ranking drop, the 23-year-old still enjoyed a memorable season. However, he wants to improve many elements in his game ahead of 2026, and the workhas already begun.
