Ben Shelton has continued to rise up the ATP Tour rankings following a stellar performance at Wimbledon.
The American, known for his big serve and whip-like forehand, reached the quarter-finals before losing to the eventual Wimbledon champion, Jannik Sinner.
Shelton, ranked eighth in the world, has since moved on to Washington DC in the hope of pushing further up the rankings. The American has a unique opportunity after Lorenzo Musetti – who sits one place above Shelton in the rankings – lost to Cameron Norrie in his second round match.
Shelton’s next opponent is the 15th seed, and he is a player who represents a daunting task for any opponent.
Just ask Taylor Fritz, who faced this same player at Wimbledon 2025.
Taylor Fritz said he had to play ‘near-perfect’ to beat Gabriel Diallo
Taylor Fritz certainly had his work cut out against Gabriel Diallo in the second round of Wimbledon.
Diallo has climbed the rankings rapidly in the last year. In July 22, 2024, Diallo was ranked 169 in the world. Since then, he has performed excellently at a number of tournaments and now sits at his highest ever ranking of 35.
After defeating Diallo 3-6 6-3 7-6 4-6 6-3, Fritz said the match was ‘incredibly hard.’ The American felt he was going to have to play ‘near perfect’ when he got opportunities against the Canadian.
As per the Wimbledon website, Fritz said: “Tomorrow is going to be a very light hit.
“I think I’ve played a lot of tennis. I’m coming from four matches in a row in Eastbourne, one day off, a match over two days here and into this, so I’m very due a very relaxing day.
“That’s an incredibly hard match.
“The fourth set – I don’t think there’s much that I did wrong at all, and I kind of felt like that’s the way the match was going: I was going to have to play near perfect when I got my opportunities. I’m happy to get through that.”
Gabriel Diallo beat Ben Shelton in their only previous encounter
Ben Shelton and Gabriel Diallo have never played a match at the ATP Tour-level. However, they did play each other in an ATP Challenger event in 2022.
The pair clashed at the Fairfield Challenger, with Diallo winning the contest 5-7 7-6 6-3.
In the successive period following that match, Shelton has established himself as a top 10 ATP Tour player, while Diallo has come on leaps and bounds in the last year.
Shelton has an opportunity at the Washington Open to add to his two ATP Tour titles, while Diallo will look to build on previous impressive showings in 2025, including the Madrid Open, Mallorca Championships and Wimbledon.
