Ben Shelton recently spoke up about girlfriend Trinity Rodman being shocked by a particular aspect of tennis. Rodman, a USWNT soccer sensation, attended several recent matches featuring Shelton and got a first-hand experience of the culture of tennis, which often stands in stark contrast to cultures in team sports.
Tennis Channel‘s “Second Serve” quizzed Shelton about how it was for him to have Rodman attend some of his matches during the European clay swing. The 22-year-old answered:
“Yeah. It’s been pretty cool. It’s obviously a lot different atmosphere. When you’re on a team, all the people are kind of like your best friends.”
Ben Shelton went on to lay bare girlfriend Trinity Rodman’s shock at finding out how singles tennis players typically steer clear of elaborate conversations with each other because of their fiercely competitive rivalries. According to Shelton, Rodman was also taken aback by members of a team restricting themselves to conversing and doing activities mostly among themselves as opposed to mingling with other teams.
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"She's come to the tennis events and kind of been like, "Oh! Why do none of the girls talk to each other?" or like, "Why does the team like, no one is really saying anything to each other or kind of just doing their own thing within their team?" She's kind of been surprised by that," Shelton added.
The two-time ATP Tour-level singles titlist spoke up about his friendship with Frances Tiafoe as well. Shelton and Tiafoe often tend to spend time together even during tournaments and crack jokes, despite being rivals.
"I've been like, "Yeah I guess it's different than normal sports because all the people you're hanging out with are also your competitors." And on the other hand, you have me and Foe cracking jokes all the time. So, it's a funny dynamic. But yeah, being able to go to some of her soccer games and her coming to some of mine has been cool, to kind of see the different crossovers within the sports," Shelton concluded.
Rodman had joined Shelton in Paris recently, where the American participated at the 2025 French Open.
Ben Shelton's French Open campaign ended with loss to eventual champion with girlfriend Trinity Rodman watching on
At the 2025 French Open, Ben Shelton reached the fourth round after registering wins over Lorenzo Sonego and Matteo Gigante. However, he couldn't reach the quarterfinals as he was bundled out of the clay Major by eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz in the fourth round.
Trinity Rodman attended Shelton's match against Alcaraz, and was treated to a fine display of tennis from both the American and the Spaniard, who shared the first two sets. Alcaraz though, dominated the third and fourth sets, bringing Shelton's campaign at Roland Garros to a disappointing end.
The two-time Grand Slam semifinalist has already started his preparations for this year's Wimbledon Championships. At the time of writing, Shelton is playing his opening match at the Stuttgart Open against Pierre-Hugues Herbert. The American is the No. 3 seed at the ATP 250 grasscourt event and received a first-round bye.
