“It’s not fair” – Ben Shelton’s father Bryan jokes about getting beaten by American in career goals just months into his career

August 25, 2025

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Ben Shelton’s father and coach, Bryan Shelton, hilariously admitted that his son surpassing his highest ranking in some weeks of turning professional wasn’t fair. Bryan Shelton had coached two college teams at the NCAA level before giving up on his career to become his son’s full-time mentor.

Bryan Shelton amassed two singles and two doubles titles in his career, but had no success at the Grand Slam level. He reached the mixed doubles final with fellow American former player, Lori McNeil, at the 1992 French Open. The 59-year-old, who served the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets women’s team and the Florida Gators men’s team, could break through into the top 75 but never into the top 50.

In a candid conversation with Caroline Garcia and Borja Durán, Ben Shelton’s father laughed and admitted that it wasn’t fair his son had surpassed his highest ranking just months after turning professional, while he himself had never broken into the top 50.

"I think that as a pro, I was never ever satisfied, you know, with where I was, I mean, originally, it was like, I want to get into the top 100, you know, that was my first goal as a tennis player was like, I want to reach the top 100, I want to be able to play in the Grand Slams, I want to be able to be main draw and not have to go through the qualifying." [10:00 onwards]

He added:

"So then you reach that, and then it's like, okay, well, I want to be in the top 75, you know, and then it was the top 50, and I never reached the top 50. So I got stuck, you know, and, you know, but it's interesting now, you know, I laugh all the time, because Ben surpassed my highest ranking within like a few months of turning pro, and it's not fair."

Ben Shelton played Ignacio Buse in the opening round of the US Open and will next face Pablo Carreno Busta on Wednesday (August 27).

Ben Shelton credited his career success to his father, Bryan Shelton, after he reached the Canadian Open quarterfinals

2025 Australian Open - Day 11 - (Source: Getty)

Ben Shelton marked a stellar season this year with a win-loss record of 35-17 coming into the US Open. He started his Montreal Open campaign strong and reached the quarterfinals after beating Flavio Cobolli in three sets. The World No. 6 tipped his hat to his head coach and father for supporting him through thick and thin and at every tournament.

"He's been there from the start with me since I was born," Ben Shelton said during his post-match press conference at the Canadian Open. "He knows me better than anyone, and sharing this journey together has been really, really cool. So, yeah, I enjoy it. He's at every tournament, but I enjoy every one of them."

In that tournament, Shelton defeated Karen Khachanov 6-7(5), 6-4, 7-6(3) in the final to claim his first ATP Masters 1000 title.

About the author

Agnijeeta is a US Olympics journalist at Sportskeeda. She holds a Master’s degree in English and has worked as a school teacher, a blogger, a content writer and a sports writer over the past 5 years. A lover of high-adrenaline track and field events, she was also a sprinter during her school days.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone happens to be her favorite Olympian, and the athlete’s feat of breaking four records within 13 months inspires her, apart from the American's body language on and off the track. Grant Hackett swimming with a partially dysfunctional lung and winning gold in Athens is her all-time favorite Olympic moment.

Agnijeeta believes that deriving of unique angles from podcasts and interviews carried out by Olympics.com, along with hype-building of potential Olympic events on social media can help fill the coverage gap during the off season.

When not at her work desk, Agnijeeta likes to sing and paint. She also plays string instruments like guitar and ukulele and is an avid player of word puzzles.

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