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Ben Shelton recently poked fun at Andy Murray's seniority after failing to beat his record in a time challenge to see who could grip their rackets faster. The American called his attempt at beating Murray's score 'terrible'
Shelton is coming off a breakthrough season. The 21-year-old broke into the top 15, reached his first Grand Slam semi-finals at the US Open, and his first Masters quarterfinals at the Rolex Paris Masters. He also won his maiden ATP Title at the 2023 Japan Open.
Shelton kicked off his 2024 campaign at the Brisbane International, but things didn't go as planned for the young American as he lost in the very first round to Roman Safiullin in a three-setter. The American is currently playing in the ASB Classic and won his first round against Fabian Marozsan.
Meanwhile, Andy Murray also shared the same fate as Shelton in Brisbane. The Brit suffered a first-round exit at the hands of the eventual champion Grigor Dimitrov, who came back from a set down to win.
Murray and Shelton recently took part in a fun off-court Brisbane International challenge where they had to grip their rackets as quickly as possible. This challenge was also taken by Rafael Nadal who took 25 seconds to complete it.
Before starting, Ben Shelton was informed that the time to beat was 11 seconds. The American immediately responded by asking whether it was Andy Murray who had the record time, which was the correct guess. He then responded:
“He's been doing it for 20 years,” jokingly highlighting that Murray had been gripping his racket for much longer.
Shelton then proceeded to complete his challenge in 16 seconds but when he was told of his time, he couldn't hide his disappointment and called his attempt 'terrible'.
A look at Ben Shelton's maiden ATP title run
Ben Shelton conquered the 2023 Japan Open to lift his maiden ATP title.
Shelton faced Japanese qualifier Taro Daniel in the first round. After finding himself a set down, the American managed to come back to win the match in three sets, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(2). In the second round, he would repeat his heroics, coming back from a set down and defeating Jordan Thompson (5)6-7, 6-4, 6-3.
In the third round, he would face compatriot Tommy Paul. Shelton saw off Paul comfortably in straight sets 7-6(4), 6-4. He faced another American in Marcos Giron and again came back from a set down to seal a place in the final with a (2)6-7, 7-6(5), 6-4 win.
Shelton faced Aslan Karatsev in the final and won it in straight sets, 7-5, 6-1, to clinch the 500 tournament and his maiden title on tour.
