Becoming a professional tennis player requires a unique journey for each individual. While some players excel in junior tournaments and then transition to the pro circuit, others skip the junior ranks altogether. There’s also a growing trend of players entering the professional world from college tennis. Ben Shelton is a prime example of this path. Deep behind the athletic prowess that helped him secure a position in the top 20 lie his strong college roots, which he has never failed to acknowledge. Turning pro in 2022, he is now rolling out the success mantra for the upcoming ATP players.

On September 19, Ben Shelton sat for an interview with a German-based publication, Tennis Magazin. Among topics like his feared serve, his relationship with his coach father and his participation in the upcoming Laver Cup, his college tennis took center stage. The interviewer asked Shelton, “College tennis was crucial to your development as a player. How did it prepare you for the ATP Tour?” Responding to this, the 21-year-old revealed,

“College tennis taught me discipline, resilience, and the importance of team dynamics. Competing at a high level in college sharpened my skills and prepared me mentally and physically for the demands of the ATP Tour. These days, I would advise most kids who are thinking about turning pro to go to college. It’s a great path”.

Talking about his college days, in June 2020, on Father’s Day, Ben Shelton announced his commitment to play collegiate tennis for the Florida Gators, coached by his father, Bryan Shelton. As a finance major, Shelton primarily played the No. 5 singles position during his freshman year in 2020-2021, compiling an impressive record of 28-5. In the same year, Shelton helped the team clinch their first national title.

The following year, he helped the team defend their SEC title and win the SEC Tournament Championship and won the 2022 NCAA Singles Championship. The same year, he earned SEC Player of the Year and the National Player of the Year awards as well.

Shelton had planned to return to Florida for his junior year in 2022-2023 to complete his finance degree. However, following his impressive performance at the 2022 Cincinnati Masters, he decided to forego his remaining college eligibility and pursue a professional tennis career while continuing his studies online.

While things might look easy for Shelton, they clearly were not. Ben once revealed the hardships he had to go through, as he was under his father’s mentorship.

Ben Shelton reflects on early college struggle as he talks about his father’s mentorship

“I thought tennis was a boring sport. Football and basketball and baseball were the cooler sports to play in America,” Ben confessed in the past. When Shelton witnessed his sister skipping school to participate in tennis tournaments, his perspective on the sport shifted. At the age of 13, he decided to follow a similar path. Instead of pursuing junior Grand Slams, Shelton opted to stay closer to home. When it came time to choose a college, he selected the University of Florida, located in his hometown and where his father served as the tennis coach.

Since he was a young kid, Ben Shelton’s father has been very supportive. When he went to college and started playing tennis professionally, he revealed how it tough it was for him. “I was pretty underdeveloped when I got to college. I had a lot of holes in my game,” he said. “I was a little bit of a mental case on the court, I got angry pretty easily. But you know, when you don’t do the right things on a college team, when your dad’s the coach, the punishment is a lot harsher than other guys on the team would have,” Ben added, speaking to Guardian in an exclusive interview.

Despite being strict with his son, Bryan never forced him to play tennis professionally and always allowed him to pursue whatever he wanted. Ben even revealed that amidst the disagreements, he had been the best guide that he could have ever asked for.

Already cruising his way into the top 20 rankings, and having won a couple of ATP titles, it will now be interesting to see if he will be able to break the deadlock for the American men and win the grand slam. While we will have an answer to this in the future, we would love to know your thoughts on this. Do let us know in the comments below!