Finally, the Grass King has arrived on the Grass courts of London. Roger Federer is back at Wimbledon on Court No.1 as he watches the young generation taking over the Grass Slam. However, while Federer enjoys Ben Shelton’s clash with Dennis Shapovalov in the R3, it may not be the same for the former, as the presence of the legend may put performance pressure on the American. How would Shelton tackle Federer’s gaze and Shapovalov’s attack simultaneously?

It seems Ben Shelton is the favorite player of the Federer family at the Wimbledon. While the 4 young Federers saw him win through the second round of the championship, their father, the 8-time Grass Slam champion, is there with his mother to see him battle it out against the Canadian. However, Shelton lost the first set to Shapovalov, before claiming the second set, making the score even. Is he feeling pressured to perform better? Or Federer has fuelled the fire in the young tennis star to win it in front of the legend? It could be either!

However, the scales tip on the pressure side as Federer sits in a stoic pose, with no indication of whether he is enjoying the match, or he wants something more from the two players on the court. Moreover, the tennis royalty has his shades on, leaving no room for tennis fans to predict anything about his mood. How would Shelton perform under pressure? Until now, in the middle of the 3rd set, Shelton has lead over the Canadian. But clouds of doubt hang upon the chances of him moving to 4R if the double pressure gets to him. But leveraging the Federer family trend for the American tennis star, like his kids, the Swiss ace may have bought a bit of luck for him.

But in his earlier rounds, Shelton refused to get off the court due to unexpected showers interrupting his R1 match. And the same followed in the R2, and the Americans would rather choose to be at loggerheads than bow down in pressure or the challenge.

Ben Shelton refuses to bow down to pressure from anyone, even the ‘Rain Gods’

While everyone around is concerned by the indirect pressure on Shelton due to Federer’s presence, it seems people have forgotten the fighter in him when he refused to be bothered by the relentless rain, which greeted him during the 2 sets. The rain played a spoilsport, delaying Shelton’s match several times. Consequences: The American had to fight tough opponents back to back, with little to no rest.

And if playing 2 matches of an intensive 5-set, couldn’t put pressure on the young gun. He emerged victorious in both matches to set up a 3R clash with his Canadian counterpart. Certainly, he can face Federer’s ‘stoic’ onslaught and Shapovalov’s aces to make his way into the 4R of the Wimbledon championships.

This leads everyone to question: Who could tame the Grand Slam-starved American tennis beast on the Grass courts of Wimbledon?