After unleashing himself at the 2023 US Open where he reached the semifinals, Ben Shelton is ready to take the next step. For this, he has set his sights on the Wimbledon Championships trophy after reaching the pre-quarterfinals of the tournament. Earlier today, the American sensation held his nerves to overcome Denis Shapovalov’s challenge in five sets. Subsequently, he made a request for his next match which was snubbed by the tournament for Coco Gauff.

Shelton is due to face World Number 1, Jannik Sinner, in his round of 16 match next. It would prove to be a thrilling encounter as both players are in good form and come on the back of some impressive wins. During his post-match interview today, Shelton opened up about his dream of playing against the World Number 1 at Wimbledon’s Centre Court. He also went on to call the moment ‘the pinnacle of tennis’ if it were to be fulfilled.

However, the tournament had already reserved the two Centre Court slots for the matches between Carlos Alcaraz vs Ugo Humbert and Emma Raducanu vs Lulu Sun. Despite Shelton making a request to play on the Centre Court, Wimbledon snubbed him for Coco Gauff, who had her match scheduled there against Emma Navarro. Meanwhile, Shelton’s match against Sinner will take place on Court 1, much to the former’s dislike.

Meanwhile, this is not the only time we are seeing Coco Gauff’s bias coming into the spotlight at the Wimbledon Championships. Earlier this week, American legend, Chris Evert, picked a player to win the tournament and it was Coco Gauff who was selected over the likes of Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina.

Further, despite Shelton’s match not being scheduled on the Centre Court, the American sensation is confident of a good show. Earlier today, he made a confident remark as he showed no signs of nervousness.

Ben Shelton ready for the big battle against Jannik Sinner

The two young stars have shown why they are a force to reckon with among the next generation of players. While Sinner has reached the pinnacle, Shelton is rising the ranks and is slowly becoming among the best in the business. Additionally, with his positive body language, Shelton makes it look like all is going well and as a result, is confident of a good performance against Sinner.

During the post-match interview after his encounter against Shapovalov, Shelton revealed, “I’m happy with where I’ve gotten so far but definitely not satisfied… I’m very excited and ready to get after it. See you guys tomorrow and let’s get it again. Come on!”

Interestingly, Shelton registered a win over Sinner in their very first encounter played at the 2023 ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Shanghai. However, Sinner came back strongly to win the next two matches and he leads Shelton 2-1 in head-to-head record.

Shelton will square off against Sinner in the afternoon session on Court 1. With a packed crowd, it promises to be one of the matches of the 2024 Wimbledon Championships.