"He would scream at me...because you can't show favoritism": How Ben Shelton benefitted from playing college tennis for Florida Gators under dad Bryan

Ben Shelton has stormed into the quarterfinals of the 2025 Wimbledon Championships, taking a strong step forward in his bid to win his maiden Grand Slam title. The American has made no secret about how his years playing college tennis, under the tutelage of his Bryan, have been a crucial foundation for his professional success.

Shelton began playing tennis at the age of 12 under his father's guidance. This dynamic continued into his collegiate tennis career for the Florida Gators, where Bryan served as the head coach. The American quickly made his mark, playing a crucial role in leading the Gators to their first-ever national title at the 2021 NCAA Championships. In his sophomore year, Shelton clinched the NCAA Singles Championship and ended the season as the top-ranked player in the country.

Although Ben Shelton had entered his junior year at the University of Florida, he chose to turn professional and complete his education online after pulling off a stunning 6-3, 6-3 win over then-World No. 5 Casper Ruud at the 2022 Cincinnati Open. From there, the American began making waves in his first full season on tour, reaching the quarterfinals of the 2023 Australian Open, the semifinals of the US Open and clinching his maiden ATP title at the Japan Open.

In an interview with The Guardian after his fourth-round exit at the 2024 Wimbledon Championships, Shelton credited his impressive breakthrough on tour to the important lessons he had learned playing college tennis. He admitted that he had significant room for improvement when he first began his collegiate career, especially regarding his temper, as he described himself as a "mental case" on the court.

"I was pretty underdeveloped when I got to college. I had a lot of holes in my game. I was a little bit of a mental case on the court, I got angry pretty easily," Ben Shelton said.

However, the American said that he quickly learned to correct his behavior and dial down his outbursts because his father and coach Bryan subjected him to much "harsher punishments" than his fellow players.

"But you know, when you don’t do the right things on a college team, when your dad’s the coach, the punishment is a lot harsher than other guys on the team would have. I learned fairly quickly to straighten things out and figure out how to be a good teammate, fly under the radar when I needed to, and have less of those outbursts or bad practices or missing a workout because I was sleeping in," he added.

Shedding light on his father's tough love, Ben Shelton recounted that Bryan would go out of his way to avoid showing any favoritism by often screaming at him and making him run laps if he ever arrived late.

"He would just get on me and scream at me more than the other guys, but I get it because you can’t show favoritism. Or I’d have to run sprints in front of everybody if I showed up late, but if someone else showed up late and then I showed up late, I was running a lot more sprints than they were," he said.

Despite his early success in his professional career, Ben Shelton displayed his maturity by acknowledging that he was still not the "complete player" he wanted to be and would work hard to fill the gaps in his game.

Ben Shelton on his father Bryan: "His ability to adapt is what makes him a great coach"

Ben Shelton with his father Bryan - Source: Getty

In the same interview, Ben Shelton opened up about what made his father Bryan the ideal coach for him. The American disclosed that his dad possessed the impressive ability to adapt between giving him advice when he needed it and pulling back when he required space.

"His ability to adapt is what makes him a great coach. He doesn’t have to just be talking in my ear all the time or just sitting back and watching. He kind of does both. He reads me and understands what I need in the moment, he gives me the information when he thinks I’ll use it. He’ll pull back some when he thinks that I got it myself," Ben Shelton said.

Shelton also disclosed that competing in a team was very important for his personal development, admitting that he often missed that environment amid the "selfish" nature of the sport on the professional tour.

"But I had the opportunity of playing on a team and supporting my teammates, even being on the bench sometimes and letting other guys get the credit. I think it’s something that’s helped me as a person a lot, and it makes things tough sometimes out on the tennis tour, because you are out here by yourself and competing by yourself, and I do really miss the team aspect that I had in college and then other team sports," he said.

Ben Shelton's experience of dealing with very "personal" barbs from the rowdy crowd at college tournaments also greatly helped him when playing in front of a hostile audience on the ATP tour.