Shelton: 'I'm not the player I want to be yet... Not close'

Nitto ATP Finals

Shelton: 'I'm not the player I want to be yet... Not close'

American reflects on 'sting' of Nitto ATP Finals debut and 2025 season

Corinne Dubreuil/ATP Tour

Ben Shelton finishes 2025 with a 40-24 match record. By ATP Staff

Ben Shelton bowed out of the Nitto ATP Finals on Friday without a win, but hardly empty-handed.

Even at 0-3 in his Turin debut, the 23-year-old leaves the year-end event with a sharper understanding of the gap he is trying to bridge. He now turns his attention to building the next layer of his game.

“Certainly eye-opening being able to play against some of the best players in the world, [realising] the things that I need to do better,” Shelton said in his post-match press conference Friday. “I'm not the player that I want to be yet. Not close. There's so many things that I need to work on.”

Shelton finishes the season with a 40-24 record, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index. There were highlights along the way, such as winning his biggest career title at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Canada, his third tour-level trophy. Shelton also reached his second major semi-final at the Australian Open, made a career-best fourth-round run at Roland Garros, and began this week at a career-high No. 5.

The lefty retired from the US Open third round with a shoulder injury and upon returning to competition in October, Shelton posted a 3-6 record the rest of the season. His week in Turin offered a reminder that progress is not always visible in the moment.

“I think tennis is a sport where you don't get instant gratification,” Shelton said. “I could be working on things now this week or have worked on things for the past three months, past two months, past month when I've been trying to come back. I may not see it on the court yet. But maybe in Australia, Paris, at some point next year I start to see those things come along.

“It's always been like that in my career. I set a goal, start working on it every day. It doesn't come to me right away. It's frustrating. Sure enough, down the line, as long as I continue to put consistent work in every single day, which has never really been a problem for me, I see those things start to work and start to come alive in my matches.”

After falling to defending champion Jannik Sinner 6-3, 7-6(3) on Friday, Shelton slipped to 1-8 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with the Italian. The American’s lone win came in their first meeting in 2023 (Shanghai). Since then, Sinner has not loosened his grip, sweeping all 19 sets they have played.

“Here, indoor courts, he's hitting the lines a lot on the serve. Pinpoint accuracy,” Shelton said of Sinner. “I think his serve makes him really, really difficult here. Obviously the ability to take time away and hit winners from different places, from the baseline, wherever on the court, is a big advantage.”

Shelton did not shy away from honestly assessing his usually lethal serve at the season finale.

“I just honestly got out-served. That was kind of the theme of all three matches I played here, the guys served better than me,” Shelton said. “That's not the biggest concern. I know I have a great serve. Got to give a lot of credit at the end of the year, the way that guys — in-form players played. Me, coming back from being out for a while, it takes me a little bit to find my rhythm. Trying to do that at the end of the year when guys are in really good form is difficult.”

Having started the year at World No. 21, Shelton is set to finish the season at No. 9. Had Shelton won one match in Turin, he would have finished the season in the Top 5 and as the No. 1 ranked American. The former University of Florida standout, who won the 2022 NCAA singles title, is intent on turning this week’s frustration into fuel and channeling it straight into his preparation for next season.

“It stings, for sure,” he said of his winless Turin record. “Tough to finish out the season like this, 0-3 at the Finals. Tennis is full of highs and lows. This will just make me work harder in the offseason, makes me even more excited for the 2026 season.”

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