WTA No. 13 Ben Shelton isn’t someone new to bold declarations, but sometimes it comes from the gallery. Last year, mid-match Basel, a voice turned Shelton’s anxious moments into amusement and laughter with an unexpected question. Now under Dallas Open’s bright light, he had a deja vu moment. Shelton’s form has been a bit inconsistent at times in the last 12 months or so, but what has remained consistent is the fans’ admiration for him.

After a disappointing semifinal exit in Melbourne, Ben Shelton faced another setback in the Dallas Open, losing against Jaume Munar by 2-6, 6(3)-7(7).  Despite his early exit, Shelton made the headlines. The American athlete experienced an interesting moment during the Round of 32 match against Aleksandar Vukic. One that left him smiling.

Shelton was asked by an unidentified fan to be her prom date with an adorable sign. “Ben, nothing would be aligreater than a yes to prom,” read the sign. It also had a drawing of a cartoon alligator in the signboard’s bottom-right corner. Photographer Jared Wickerham clicked several pictures of that moment and later the Dallas Open’s official IG page posted them with a cheeky caption: “Tag us in the prom photos.” Shelton also acknowledged the post by sharing it with a loud crying emoji on his IG story.

However, it wasn’t the first time Ben Shelton found himself at the center of playful proposals. Last year at the ATP 500 in Basel, he was just a game away from winning his first-round match against Tomas Etcheverry when an admirer addressed him from the crowd. “Ben, will you marry me? “ said the girl. Shelton, who was waiting for his opponent’s serve, couldn’t maintain his composure and laughed along with the other spectators in the stadium.

Moments like these surely describe Ben Shelton‘s growing charm among his followers. Remember his iconic “phone dial-in” celebratory gesture at the 2023 US Open semifinals? He hung up the phone on his opponent as a part of his playful on-court victory celebration. Later it received so much hype that Djokovic decided to enact it after winning against Shelton himself.

The WTA No. 13 has a way of keeping his audience engaged. Be it his charm or fast serves, he has a dedicated fan base who often ponders: Is Ben Shelton single?

Ben Shelton is single!

During his 2025 AO run, Shelton enjoyed a casual stroll around Melbourne with Coco Gauff. Although their colleague and friend Christopher Eubanks joined them, the paparazzi deliberately cropped him out to build a narrative around Gauff and Shelton. Later, when Shelton advanced to the Slam’s third round, he said in a press conference, “Yeah, me Chris and Coco, we’ll do escape room, sometimes we’ll go on a dare. We might be retired after this week because the paparazzi are taking pictures of us and cropping Chris out of the photo, so Chris wasn’t too happy about that.”

Shelton’s playful response cleared the air about his equation with Coco Gauff. Although he refuted rumors about dating the 2023 US Open champion, he wasn’t always single. Shelton dated a heptathlete Anna Hall earlier, whom he met during his University of Florida days. They made their relationship official in 2021. However, one and a half years later, they parted ways. Shelton announced the news on the  Tennis Unfiltered podcast in 2023: “Actually, we broke up a few weeks ago.”

Well now that he is single, Ben Shelton might receive even more proposals going ahead. What do you think about his prospects on the court though? Can Shelton challenge for a major title this season? Share your thoughts in the comments below.