Underconfidence Grips Ben Shelton as He Gets Real About His Chances in the 2024 ATP Season – ‘Not Where I Want to Be’

Ben Shelton has experienced a significant rise in the tennis world owing to his unwavering desire to grow and advance as a player. From world No. 96 to creating a place for himself in the top 20, the year has seen a lot of change for Shelton. And now that the 2024 tennis season has begun, he will be seen competing in Auckland to start a hopefully successful year.

But before that, the 21-year-old American tennis player recently opened up about his plans for 2024. Along with that, he also detailed whether he’s ready to claim a big win this year or not on the tennis court.

Ben Shelton’s thoughts on claiming a big title this year

While last year was great for the 17th-seeded tennis player in terms of his growth, this year Ben Shelton has his goals quite clear. In a recent interview before starting off his ASB Classic journey, he opened up about achieving greater heights this year.

He said, “Maybe it looks like that from the outside – a lot of the matches that I’m playing now, maybe I’m the favorite. Whereas last year I was more of an underdog. [But] I’m [not] where I want to be yet with my game, definitely not the final product. So I have a lot to look forward to and that’s what I’m focusing on.”

The evolution that Shelton has seen from last year’s participation in Auckland, the young star has quickly become one of the top names of the tournament this year. He has also made it clear that somewhere down the line, Shelton believes that he has much to work on before he can win some big matches.

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However, just a few days before revealing his take, Ben Shelton also shared a harsh perspective regarding the spreading winds of the tennis court. Let’s take a look at what the 21-year-old American sensation has to say about his growth in the tennis world.

Shelton’s hiding his tennis plans 

Before beginning the 2024 tennis season, the 17th-ranked tennis player has a lot of development goals that he wants to achieve this year. In a candidate interview, Ben Shelton stated, “I have a lot of developmental goals for 2024, things that I want to see improve in my game. In terms of result-based goals, I just keep that between me and my team. I feel like there’s no winning in the media.” 

Further, he also highlighted that even if a player sets his goals too low, people are going to give him a hard time. On the other hand, even after having high expectations, the media will be relentless too, so rather than revealing his plans now, he will let everyone know how he did by the end of the year.

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