Ben Shelton climbed to the American no. 1 spot earlier this week, but he’ll lose it already next Monday.
The American is arguably one of the most talented tennis players from the current generation, especially in his country, which has been waiting for a player to regularly win Grand Slam titles since Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras.
Shelton may be that player, although he has yet to win a major. He has shown many times in his young tennis career that he possesses the ‘X-factor,’ which propelled him to the highest-ranked American player on the ATP Tour.
This week, from April 15th to 21st, Shelton is the highest-ranked American and only the third left-handed player to achieve that status.
Despite being ranked world no. 14 in the ATP Rankings, the 21-year-old will be surpassed by his compatriot, Taylor Fritz, come Monday.
The 26-year-old Fritz is having a solid week at the Munich Open, reaching the semi-finals after defeating British talent Jack Draper. This achievement has allowed him to surpass Shelton by 15 points and claim the world no. 14 spot.
Fritz has the opportunity to advance further by making it to the final, which could elevate him to world no. 13, still a ways off from his career-high of no. 5.
While Shelton’s 14th ranking is his best to date, there is no doubt that despite losing the American no. 1 position, the young talent is likely to reclaim it in the future and potentially break into the Top 10 as well.
