Home

Tennis

Despite Houston Triumph, Ben Shelton Vents Frustration About Missing Out on Caitlin Clark’s Grand NCAA Finale

Published 04/08/2024, 5:40 AM EDT

Follow Us

via Imago

Ben Shelton recently defeated Frances Tiafoe in the all-American clash at the ATP Houston Final. With this victory, the former University of Florida standout has become the tournament’s youngest champion since Andy Roddick in 2002. However, despite winning the title in Houston, the 21-year-old tennis star from Florida is annoyed to miss the NCAA women’s basketball final.

South Carolina Gamecocks defeated the Iowa Hawkeyes by 87-75 to clinch their third NCAA women’s championship on Sunday. Dawn Staley’s South Carolina kept their winning intact throughout the tournament. They deprived Caitlin Clark of the championship in her final college game. Ben Shelton is a big fan of Caitlin Clark and he’s absolutely gutted to miss SC IOWA’s game. 

“Only thing I’m mad about…” – Ben Shelton won the title in Houston but his mind is still in Cleveland

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

Shortly after his emphatic victory over the defending champion, Frances Tiafoe. Shelton took to X (formerly Twitter) to express his disappointment over the clash of schedules of the two mega events in the American sports world. He wrote, “Only thing I’m mad about this weekend is that my final in Houston was at the same time as the SC IOWA game.” Ben Shelton arrived in Houston with a 2-7 win-loss record on the clay surface and had a 5-match losing streak on clay. After the match, he even went on to heap praise on Tiafoe.

He said, “Great week Foe. Great job to you and your team,” and went on to add that he wants to meet him in the finals in the near future. Both the tennis stars have one thing in common. Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe are big basketball fans and they love watching Caitlin Clark. Just a few months ago, Frances Tiafoe even met the basketball star following her team’s victory against the University of Maryland. Tiafoe went to their dressing room and even took a picture with the talented youngster.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

Trending

Get instantly notified of the hottest Tennis stories via Google! Click on Follow Us and Tap the Blue Star.

Follow Us

Although Tiafoe is a proud supporter of the DMV. He is like the rest of the US sports fans, who are in awe of Clark’s talent. He loves watching her shatter records day in and day out. But do you know there is another American tennis player who’s a big fan of Caitlin Clark?

Just like Shelton, Tiafoe, even Coco Gauff is a huge fan of Caitlin Clark

Just a few months ago, she was even seen congratulating the 22-year-old American college basketball star when she became the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer in women’s basketball. Both Ben Shelton and Coco Gauff heaped praise on Clark for her remarkable performance recently against the LSU Tigers at the Elite Eight showdown.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

Caitlin Clark scored 41 points, made 21 assists, and 7 rebounds in that game. She also broke the record for most career 3-pointers and assists in NCAA women’s tournament history. After her stellar performance, Gauff took to Twitter and wrote, “Unreal game sheesshh @caitlinclark22.” Ben Shelton went a step further and drew a comparison of Caitlin Clark with Stephen Curry. He said, “Caitlin playing like curry rn.” Share your thoughts on these next-gen superstars of the American sporting world.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :

Written by:

Sayantan Roy

786Articles

One take at a time

Sayantan Roy is a Tennis Writer at EssentiallySports, who crafts tennis tales that not only capture the game's essence but also reflect his creative genius. As a believer in unbiased journalism, Sayantan, a fan of both Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, loves to fuse the world of such tennis rivals and present balanced copies as fan reaction pieces. Engaged in sports since college, he brings that passion to life.
Show More>

Edited by:

Ananya Giri