AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 18, 2025

Ben Shelton

Press Conference

B. SHELTON/L. Musetti

6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Obviously another solid match today. Just what was your reaction? Sort of a tricky player who has a lot of tools. How happy were you...

BEN SHELTON: Yeah, really happy. Obviously I was 0-2 against him. Really tough matchup for me. Out of all the guys on the top 20 and on tour, it's one of the guys that gives me a lot of problems because he can neutralize my serve. His natural patterns go to my backhand side. He keeps the ball really low, great slice, and passes really well when I want to come to net.

Not an easy task, and happy to get through it.

Q. Your next opponent, obviously someone you grew up watching. I'm curious what are some of your earlier memories of watching...

BEN SHELTON: There's this one highlight tape I feel like everyone has watched on YouTube that's just nuts. For me it's probably the greatest tennis highlight tape of all time. It's Gael, just a lot of athletic plays.

One of them being, I think it was at Roland Garros when he dove for that overhead and then ended up winning the point. He was going nuts.

So for me if there's one guy in all of sports you're, like, that guy has the greatest mixed tape, like hoop tape or NFL tape, college football's tape on Austin -- he had the greatest tape of all time -- for me it's Gael Monfils.

Q. Have you bumped into Learner in the locker room today or Alex or any of them? What's the vibe? What's going on? Are you guys chatting up each other?

BEN SHELTON: Me and Alex are boys. I've texted him and told him he's a dog after every match that he's won because it's true. He is a dog. I think that he's going to be towards the top of the game very soon. I just love the way he plays. I love watching him.

I think that his improvements on the forehand side have been insane. His movement, a lot of improvement. His serve. Obviously the backhand is cash, and he loves to come to the net.

He is just one of my guys that I love to watch and love being around. We're going to play doubles at Indian Wells and Miami. So looking forward to that.

Then, obviously, Learner, it's not as normal for him to just come up to me and start talking. Just hasn't been out here that much. But try to make an effort every time to go up to him. I just saw him walking past. Give him the congratulations. What he's doing is really cool.

I guess kind of similar to me. He's a year younger than I am when I had my big breakthrough here, but not a bad place to have a breakthrough.

So, like I said, on top of all the guys that are already at the top in the U.S., we have a lot more coming. It's really starting to show itself.

Q. This being the only seed left in your quarter now, make you - I don't know if you knew that, but...

BEN SHELTON: No, man. I don't look forward.

Q. Now that you've heard that, does that make you at all feel like you have a chance to sort of step up and show you are the one who is in boldface in this section?

BEN SHELTON: I always feel like I have a chance. I always back myself. Playing the big guys, I feel like I have stuff that can make them uncomfortable. I never walk on the court not thinking I have a chance to win. It's just the way that I'm wired and probably why I've had some success in moments that I probably shouldn't have had or before I was really ready for it.

But yeah, for me, I don't really care who is on the other side of the court. A lot of people were asking me how I was feeling about playing Musetti, him being two sets to love against me [sic].

For me playing him in the Grand Slam is different. If I'm healthy and I'm feeling good, I always feel like I can go the distance, five sets. That's half the battle, trusting in your ability to make it all the way to the end.

Yeah, I guess I could say my confidence isn't just based on who is in my quarter. It's just based on the work that I've been putting in and where I feel with my game.

Q. Can you talk us through that tiebreaker, especially, I guess, the last four, five points or something like that?

BEN SHELTON: It's kind of nuts. I was up a mini-break 3-1. Second serve, serve and volley. If the guy takes a backhand from 20 feet behind the baseline, laces it, and then it's over the net and makes it, too good. He did it. Then we're back on serve. I get a mini-break again. He finds a way to dig out of it.

One of the biggest keys for us was if he had that backhand pass in a big moment just to cover line. So I was just, like, a little head fake and cover line. Kind of ended up stealing that point at 5-All when it wasn't looking too good. Probably hit the worst dropshot that's been hit in this tournament so far. So got a little lucky to come away with that one.

Yeah, just happy with the way I closed it out, serve plus one.

Q. That was something you guys had discussed if he is coming to the backhand? It wasn't like 50/50, take a guess?

BEN SHELTON: I had two matches of tape where he has passed me probably 65 times. There's a lot to look at and analyze (smiling).

Q. I know obviously you want to win your next match. Would any part of you get to hope that you get to add to a Gael Monfils highlight reel that you can put something pretty fun on the record in some of these rallies coming up?

BEN SHELTON: What? Like hope that he beats me?

Q. I'm saying spectacular points, some YouTube-worthy points.

BEN SHELTON: I think no matter what, when Gael is on the court, that's going to happen. Not looking to be part of the Gael Monfils Show and get wiped off the court, if that's what you're asking.

No, I think that anytime that he's on the court, it's a box office match. I would like to think that I add to that a little bit. I'm enjoying it.

I know the fans are going to love it. That's why I love Grand Slams. It feels like no matter who you are playing, what court you're playing, it's packed, and they go nuts.

Couldn't be happier to be in the fourth round and get to have a matchup like that.

Q. Will you watch the tape of his match with Taylor?

BEN SHELTON: No. I mean, for me it's tough, especially a guy playing a righty. I play so different from everybody on tour. I don't really get that much from watching tape when they play other guys unless it's, like, a Draper or a Shapo and I see how they serve them, or Ugo Humbert a little bit as well.

Usually the serve spots are different, where they try to return from, what they do with the return, the patterns of play. It's all different when they play me versus a righty or someone else on tour.