Ben Shelton and the Spirit of America

Bill Simons

Wimbledon

BEN SHELTON AND THE SPIRIT OF AMERICA: Our country may have its problems, but the American spirit still shines bright. The other day, in support of Ben Shelton, Yankees repeatedly chanted, “USA! USA! USA!” out on Court 18. Today, on Court 1, a cadre of Shelton fanatics roared.

Their ringleader, Patrick Hesson, a former University of Florida tennis manager, who has known Shelton since he was a 14-year-old hanging around the tennis team, recalled Ben’s heady, coming-of-age days in Gainesville. Today, in a compelling five set-battle between North America’s two best lefties, America’s No. 2, Shelton, and Canada’s No. 2, Denis Shapovalov, the 21-year-old American proved his mettle. Never mind that Shelton got treatment for his right thigh. In the deciding set, he unleashed his devastating serve and adept decision making.

Yes, Denis, once No. 10 in the world, is a savvy veteran and has a gorgeous backhand. But his game can be erratic. His ranking has slipped to No. 121, and Shelton won his third straight five-set match going away, 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, to reach the fourth round – 30 years after his father and coach Bryan did the same here at Wimbledon.

Ben looked at his dad and quipped, “We’re back, Big Dog!” He then added, “There’s no better place to play tennis than at Wimbledon.”

For sure his buddy Patrick will be there for Ben at his next match. Shelton sees him as an older brother, whose support is key. Hesson recalled his days of hanging out for hours with Shelton in Florida’s dorms. “Ben is just such a great guy, just so normal.”

But we dare to disagree. Yes, Ben is great, but he’s not exactly normal. He will next play Jannik Sinner. It’s just not normal, going up against the best player in the world on the best court in the world.

SPEAKING OF THE USA: Seven Americans have reached the fourth round, the most since 2004. The seven are Coco and Emma Navarro (who face off Sunday), Danielle Collins, Madison Keys, Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul and Ben Shelton. In 2004 it was Serena, Lindsay Davenport, Jennifer Capriati, Amy Frazier, Robby Ginepri and Vince Spadea.

IGA AGAIN HITS THE GRASS CEILING: Iga Swiatek, the No. 1 player in the world by a mile, is a force of nature on clay. She’s won four French Opens. But on hard courts she’s “only” won one Slam – the US Open. At Wimbledon she’s never gotten past the quarters. The BBC observed, “She has problems controlling the controllables of grass court tennis.”

Yet today she seemed in control as she took the first set off of Yulia Putinseva 6-3. But the unseeded Kazakhstan, who had never beaten Iga before, came out of her shell, used the crowd (who craved an upset), defended well and scored a 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 shock win.

Or maybe it wasn’t that big of a shock. Today Iga just didn’t seem comfortable. She seemed drained and erratic. She said she “messed up her recovery” after Roland Garros. She met too many commercial obligations and should have taken a vacation. On Court One she shanked shots. Her big topspin forehand is not grass-friendly. Martina Navratilova commented, “I don’t care if Iga is playing on cobblestones, she shouldn’t be missing so many forehands.” Swiatek will retain her No. 1 ranking. But obviously, after her loss, Wimbledon will miss her. Two-time finalist Ons Jabeur will also be missed. She lost to Ukrainian Elina Svitolina.

EMMA’S BRILLIANT, BIZARRE CAREER: Brit Emma Raducanu has had one of the stranger early careers in the annals of tennis. At 18, she struck lightning when she came out of the US Open qualifying tournament and raced her way to the title. She had an incredible draw and beat Leylah Fernandez in the finals. She quickly became one of the richest athletes in the game. Every corporation that was half aware of their quarterly reports wanted the pretty, appealing Brit to endorse their product. But Emma also had to deal with the voracious British press and many surgeries. Plus she found herself on a coaching carousel.

Her ranking had dropped to a dismal No. 301 by the end of 2023. She soon had to depend on wildcards just to play in big tourneys. She didn’t even get into the French Open. Of course she got a wildcard at Wimbledon and, as the Guardian noted, her draw opened like the Red Sea. Now, to reach the semis and a possible match with Coco Gauff, all the Brit has to do is to beat No. 123 Lulu Sun and then either No. 37 Donna Vekic or No. 93 Paula Badosa.

EMMA WITHDRAWS: British fans were thrilled. Their two darlings Raducanu and Andy Murray would be teaming up to play mixed doubles. It would be the Scot’s last hurrah – how grand!

And Raducanu made it sound like it was the opportunity of a lifetime. She said it took her just ten seconds to say yes to Andy’s offer to play with her. She added, “At the end of my life I’m going to have that memory of playing at Wimbledon with Andy Murray on our home Slam. For me, it was an honor to be asked. Wimbledon is Andy Murray and Andy Murray is Wimbledon.” 

Then Emma pulled out. Raducanu, who has had wrist surgery, said she had stiffness in her wrist. Her moved stirred controversy.

‘OH! LOOK WHAT STEFFI DID TO ME:’ Raducanu’s withdrawal wasn’t the first time an ATP superstar was dissed by a fine WTA player. Back in 1999, Steffi Graf pulled out of her Wimbledon mixed doubles match with McEnroe. Johnny Mac was not pleased. He said, “For one of the few times in my life, I was speechless. I sat there for five minutes, silent. Then I started to get angry. It was the end of the day, and only two people were left in the locker room beside me. I turned to them and said, ‘Can you believe what this bitch did to me?'” The two people were Andre Agassi (who was secretly head over heels in love with Steffi) and his coach, Brad Gilbert. “It turned out there was a lot I didn’t know at that moment.” 

WIMBLEDON WAS UP THE CREEK BUT A WALNUT CREEK DUO SAVED THE DAY: Emma Raducanu and Andy Murray may be out of the mixed doubles, but Bay Area fans were thrilled that they’ll be replaced by the all Contra Costa duo of Walnut Creek’s Rajeev Ram and Katie Volynets.

A FAREWELL TO VIC: It’s oh so sad that Vic Seixas, who was the leading light of American tennis, passed at 100. But it’s somehow appropriate that the man who won Wimbledon 71 years ago left us during the game’s greatest championship. 

DON’T MESS WITH FRITZ: On spring nights the upscale Paris neighborhood of Bois de Boulogne rings with the distant roar from Roland Garros. The stadium crowd is loud – passionate about backing their countrymen against foreign intruders, especially if they’re from that callous, upstart nation they call America. 

And last year, when Taylor Fritz played France’s Arthur Rinderknech, they tried mightily to rattle the American. It was brutal – the wrath of the crowd stung. But after the Californian prevailed, he gave the throng a taste of their own medicine. He sarcastically told them, “The crowd was just so great, I had to let them fire me up. They cheered for me so well, I wanted to make sure I won. Thanks, guys,”   

Before Fritz and Rinderknech were to meet at this year’s Wimbledon, the Frenchman told L’Equipe, “Taylor won’t cry as much. He whined a bit saying it was too noisy. I hold no grudge against him but he was wrong if he thought the crowd would send him kisses in between points.”

Just after Fritz again won this year, he told Arthur at the net to have a “good flight” back home. The Frenchman tried to be all nice and chatty, but the 6’ 5” veteran is not a fellow you want to mess with. He hardly wanted  to become pals with the guy who’d just dissed him.

Taylor explained, “When someone goes out of their way to take a jab at you, it’s tough…[But] as soon as I saw it, the match was basically over. It gave me extra fire. I’m a very chill person. I don’t do anything that could rub people the wrong way, so when someone goes out of their way to take a shot at me, I’m not just going to take it.”

At the net, Fritz told Arthur, “Dude, you know what you said. Don’t disrespect me before the match and then expect me to be all nice after the match. That’s not how it works.”

Today, Fritz beat No. 24 Alejandro Tabilo from Chile 7-6, 6-3, 5-7. He’ll next face the considerable No. 4 seed, Alexander Zverev.

SENSATION OF THE TOURNEY: Twenty-year-old Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard is 6’8″ and built like a tank. He’s mean to his opponents – he often blasts two first serves. His first serve averages 134 mph and his second averages a measly 130 mph. He’s only ranked No. 58 – but watch out. 

AMERICA WATCH: San Diego’s Brandon Nakashima lost to France’s No. 16, Ugo Humbert. Last October, Nakashima began working with a new coach, the former top 50 Italian, Davide Sanguinetti, who played at UCLA. Unseeded Bernarda Pera fell to No. 13 Jelena Ostapenko. No. 11 Danielle Collins beat Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia.