AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 20, 2025

Ben Shelton

Press Conference

B. SHELTON/G. Monfils

7-6, 6-7, 7-6, 1-0 [Ret.]

THE MODERATOR: Ben, not the way you wanted to win, but how tough was Gael for those three sets?

BEN SHELTON: Yeah, all the way into the fourth set. Obviously the guy's really, really tough. He was playing at an extremely high level.

Honestly, when he started to get tired, he started playing better, serving better. He was painting lines with the forehand and the backhand. Just ripping the ball.

One of those dangerous moments that you see him in where you're not sure if he's okay, if he's not okay, if he's trying, but he's hitting a lot of winners.

Yeah, difficult one. But obviously not the way you want to win it. Happy with the way that I fought for those three sets. Then getting an early break in the fourth.

But, yeah, obviously a legend of our sport. Hopefully a quick recovery for him.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Gael spoke very warmly about you afterwards and said it was difficult for him to play against someone that he liked so much. Was it difficult for you?

BEN SHELTON: Yeah, it's always tough. The little kid in me always wants to see Gael win. I always want to see him hit the highlight shot and trick shot.

It's like players always get mad when the crowd is against them or not for them, but honestly, all I could do today was appreciate the fans getting behind him. It was just a cool moment for me to be a part of. Obviously they were cheering against me, pretty much the whole stadium, but it's kind of the stuff that gives you goose bumps, the stuff that you live for.

Q. When you see Gael, Novak, do you ever imagine how long you want to do this for?

BEN SHELTON: I don't think I want to be out here at 38 (smiling). You never know. I mean, I think it's all about love for the sport, how much you pace yourself.

Gael has given me a few pep talks over the last few years, at certain times whether I was playing great and doing great and playing a lot, or maybe it was that 2023 run where I lost a lot of matches in a row or lost early in a lot of tournaments in a row.

He said to me, like, You know, it was important for him in his career that he found the places that he loved to play, and he focused on those weeks and doing really well in those weeks and knowing there are places that he doesn't love to play and not stressing as much.

That's kind of the way that he's been able to keep the love for the sport, and you are seeing this. He's still entertaining crowds at 38 years old, which is remarkable.

Obviously he's done it in a way where he can still love it and enjoy it. It's long seasons. It's certainly an easy sport to get burnt out. Individual sport, it's not like you have a team who can pick up the slack if you're a vet and you can play less minutes. No, you've got to be out there for every point.

So yeah, I'm not sure where I'll be at 38. I'm focused on the year 22 right now.

Q. Putting aside the way it ended, the reason for it being as short as it was, is it helpful to get off there earlier than you might have? This could have gone four or five full sets, or being the beginning of the season, being as you just said, only 22, is that not as much of a concern for you as it might be for some other players?

BEN SHELTON: Yeah, it's interesting. In Grand Slams, I mean, in a match like that, the bulk of the match is what happens in those first three sets. Me being up two sets to one in a break, a point away from 2-0, I'm pretty confident no matter who I'm playing, if I'm up two sets to love in and a break that I'm going to serve it out.

So you get to that point, the legs are a little bit heavier. Usually late in sets I'm actually hitting my spots better. So for me, the physicality of those extra 30, 40 minutes, it's not as much as if it was stopped after Set 2 or Set 1.

Obviously he was feeling it out there, too. It's one of the things that he said to me at the net. He goes, Yeah, man, playing, I told you, I told you, playing you in a Grand Slam, it's just too physical, too physical (smiling).

But, I mean, we're friends. We have joked about these things in the past. He always tells me that if we play two out of three sets he's going to chop me, but three out of five could get tricky, because I think that I do some things on the court that can make it physical for the guy I'm playing against, especially if they're not a super-tall guy.

For him it's little easier, 6'4", 6'5", to deal with hitting the kick serve out of zone or dealing with my heavy forehand that I loop off the court. If you're 5'10", it gets tiring after a while. Obviously he's a guy that can handle it a lot better, but I thought three sets of grueling tennis today, it's obviously nice to not go deep for two more and be cramping and out of here at 1:00 a.m. Sometimes it happens; sometimes it doesn't.

Q. Having been to this sort of deep end of Grand Slams before, what sort of happens to your brain when you get to this point in the tournament? Do you feel any kind of shift? What does it feel like?

BEN SHELTON: Yeah, it's just kind of like a peacefulness, a confidence. In your off-days you're not too worried how you're hitting the ball or how many balls you hit. You're going out there and making sure you keep the body moving.

Feel pretty good where you're at, where your game is at. There is just not as much panic, at least for me. I get to these stages, and I know, listen, I'm going to go out there and I'm going to be in a good rhythm when I'm at this point in the tournament. How can I manage myself physically? How do I manage the big moments?

So for me, staying calm is kind of half the battle. Yeah, there definitely is a shift. You get into that second week. For the men, we have played so many sets that it's almost impossible not to be in a good rhythm. Like, you don't usually get to the quarterfinals or semifinals of a major and see somebody, you know, not playing good tennis.

I mean, every once in a while nerves become a factor, and for parts of matches guys can't play well, but for the most part, you're very, very grooved at this point.

Q. There was a slightly awkward moment on the court afterwards when you were asked, being interviewed, and asked whether Gael felt like he could be your dad, and you made a comment, Is that a Black joke? Did you take it as a racial comment? You were laughing at the time.

BEN SHELTON: No, no, the guy just said, He's old enough to be your dad. Then he made a comment, Oh, maybe he is your dad. Probably just a stupid comment that I shouldn't have said. I thought it was funny in the moment.

I don't think -- I hope the guy didn't take it in any sort of way. I know that my dad thought it was pretty funny (smiling). But, yeah, I guess I apologize for that.

No, I didn't take it any way. I know he didn't -- he probably didn't mean it any way to me. I hope he didn't mean it in any way like that. I guess I probably should keep my mouth shut more.

Q. Obviously a match like today stakes are very high, pressure is on, but particularly in someone like Gael, do you allow yourself to enjoy the match during the match? Or is it more at the end you think, wow, that was really fun?

BEN SHELTON: Yeah, you try not to enjoy it until after. Obviously you're going to have some moments of smiles and laugh. He holds up the hand when he hits an unbelievable shot, but you know he's not sorry (smiling).

It's something that you enjoy, but you try to suppress that while you're playing to stay focused. He's a guy that when you start getting into that and you're smiling the whole match. Then, oh, wow, I'm down two sets? It's blown by me.

So he's definitely a guy you've got to stay locked in. I think that one of the things that he also does best, which clearly he was not fully 100% today and towards the end of the match really gassed, but sometimes he looks real tired and you could be serving to him and he's got his hands on his knees and then you serve a bomb out wide and he's reflexed it and he's in the corner and passing you. You're like, ahh, I fell in the trap.

It's a tough kind of tricky back-and-forth. Obviously that's his way of dealing with being tired on a court. But he plays it up sometimes, and I think that, like, he's got more in the tank than he shows at times. Obviously that wasn't the case towards the end of the match today. It was real, but I think that's one of the things that he does the best on court that makes it tricky.

Q. Kind of connected to what was asked earlier about having been here before, is there anything you would say you learned or took away from the run here, the run in New York, that can help you as you get and accumulate these last-stretch appearances at these big tournaments?

BEN SHELTON: Yeah, for me it's, like, it's a sense of urgency. It's knowing that, okay, to get here, you might have done some really good things and played some great tennis, but there is a whole new matchup in front of you, and if somebody's in the quarterfinals or semifinals, they're close to the best version of themselves.

I think, for me, having a game plan going in, not just going out there and whaling on the ball and seeing what happens, my first quarterfinal here with Tommy Paul, I was cooked, but definitely just came out here swinging for the fences.

But being able to trust yourself and your fitness this late in the tournament and being okay with, okay, I could go five sets, or the rallies are going to be long and I'm fine to stay in them, I think that that's the maturity on my part. Physically and mentally, you just have to be able to get to a place where you can trust yourself into those big moments and you don't think that you have to play outside of your limits.

Obviously it's also tough, because you're playing the best players in the world, but that's what I think is kind of most important.