sport news Australian Open: Ben Shelton had NEVER left the USA but is now in the last ... trends now
Despite playing the most international of sports, Ben Shelton had never used his passport until leaving for Adelaide just before the New Year.
Now, overseas for the very first time, he finds himself in the last eight of the Australian Open with a chance to go even further.
The tousle-haired lefthander with a pump action serve will face compatriot Tommy Paul after beating another American outsider in JJ Wolf, outlasting him 6-7, 6-2, 6-7, 7-6, 6-2 in three and three quarter hours.
Ben Shelton celebrates after winning a five-set thriller against fellow American J.J. Wolf
Shelton, 20, will now overtake his dad's best ever world ranking and break into the top 50
Shelton, whose father Bryan reached the world's top sixty in the Nineties, has been the breakout star of this tournament and his progress has seen him beat his Dad's career-high ranking.
There are some strange coincidences attached to his success this fortnight. His parents met at this tournament in 1993, as his mother was in attendance as the sister of Todd Witsken, the late US player who died at 34. Witsken reached the quarter-finals in Melbourne, his career best result, 35 years ago.
If he could keep going it would probably do more for tennis in America than any series of the kind Netflix are currently showing about the sport.
The two Americans embrace at the net after their near-four hour epic at the Australian Open
Fans clamor for selfies with the 20-year-old as he walks off court following his huge victory
Shelton, 20, is the youngest player from the US to reach a Grand Slam quarter final since Andy Roddick in 2001. The Americans have been desperately trying to replace Roddick since his retirement and there is optimism that could happen as ten of them will be in the world's top 50 next week.
Three are three in the quarter
