“Proud”- Ben Shelton hails fellow American Emilio Nava on Cincinnati 1R victory

Ben Shelton hailed fellow American player Emilio Nava for his dominant win over Borna Coric in the Cincinnati Masters opening round. Shelton came fresh off winning the Canadian Open title, his first ATP 1000 achievement in his career.

Ben Shelton has been posting stellar finishes since the 2025 Australian Open, where he reached the finals before falling to defending champion Jannik Sinner. His Indian Wells Open feat was also one for the history as his quarterfinal advancement made him the youngest American to achieve so since Andy Roddick in 2004.

He had back-to-back semifinal appearances at the Stuttgart Open and the Washington Open, breaking through to the top 6 in the ATP rankings. After his phenomenal Canadian Open run, outclassing Russian Karen Khachanov 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, the 22-year-old lauded his countryman in an Instagram story, captioning:

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"My dawg. Proud."

Nava, who peaked at No. 105 in the ATP rankings, will next be head-on with American No. 1 Taylor Fritz. On the other hand, Shelton will face Camilo Ugo Carabelli in the Round of 64, scheduled for Sunday, August 9.

Shelton's victory made him the youngest American to claim an ATP Masters 1000 title, matching Andy Roddick's achievement in 2004.

Ben Shelton revealed why he can be the next American to win a major after Roddick

Ben Shelton, who made his ATP Tour debut in 2022, has swiftly catapulted himself to one of the top-ranked American players. He reached two major semifinals at the 2023 US Open and the 2025 Australian Open and is headed to Flushing Meadows with a winning mindset. The left-handed player shared that he not only maintained consistency on the court but also worked on his weaknesses to gain an advantage over his rivals.

"I think that the more opportunities that you have, the more times you put yourself in the position to be playing against the best players in the world, you're only going to get better. So, for me it's being in the later stages of the tournament and playing against guys who are playing their best tennis to see where I match up, and see where my weaknesses are and where I can get better," he said in a press conference at the Canadian Open.

The University of Florida alum, Ben Shelton, was integral in the Gators' first team title in 2021, and the following year, he earned his first men's singles title at the NCAA Division I Tennis Championships.

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About the author

Agnijeeta Majumder

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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