Ever since making it to the semifinals of the 2023 US Open, Ben Shelton has been the talking point in American tennis. In what was a breakthrough year for him, he finished the last season as one of the top players on the ATP Tour. Showing signs of promise, many tennis pundits have spoken highly about him. Recently, Coco Gauff’s coach, Brad Gilbert was added to that list as he made some interesting remarks about Shelton.

The men’s tennis of the United States has seen a massive void ever since the likes of Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick retired. However, over the past few years, many exciting young talents have popped up and Shelton is one among them.

Brad Gilbert believes American Ben Shelton can make history at the AO

Ahead of the Australian Open, tennis coach and commentator, Brad Gilbert assessed the chances of the players Down Under. During an interview with CNN, he talked highly about American tennis sensation Ben Shelton. Coco Gauff’s coach was of the opinion that Shelton boasts of special talent and can break America’s long drought.

Gilbert said, “He could cut his ranking in half and I think he’s going to be the first American [man] potentially to win a slam since Andy Roddick.” For the record, the last American man to win a Grand Slam singles title was Roddick when he defeated Spain’s Juan Carlos Ferrero to win the 2003 US Open title.

Since then, no American man has tasted glory on tennis’ biggest stage and Shelton will look to break that drought as he hopes to capitalize on his breakthrough season last year. While he will be looking to make history at the Australian Open, a major challenge has come his way Down Under.

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Shelton might face Novak Djokovic before the quarterfinals

Earlier this week, the draw for the Australian Open was released. It threw up some big surprises and Shelton’s path at the tournament was among them. The American sensation has been handed a difficult road even before the quarterfinals.

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The 21-year-old will potentially face Novak Djokovic as early as round four of the first major tournament of the season. The Serb is the top seed and the defending champion of the tournament. It’ll be interesting to see how Shelton fares against the veteran. Despite the difficult draw, he will look to make the most of the opportunity at hand and break America’s much-awaited Grand Slam drought.