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<\/p>\n Nitto ATP Finals
\n Shelton: ‘I’m not the player I want to be yet… Not close’<\/p>\n
American reflects on ‘sting’ of Nitto ATP Finals debut and 2025 season<\/p>\n
November 14, 2025<\/p>\n
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Corinne Dubreuil\/ATP Tour<\/p>\n
Ben Shelton finishes 2025 with a 40-24 match record.
\n By ATP Staff<\/p>\n
Ben Shelton<\/a> bowed out of the Nitto ATP Finals<\/a> on Friday without a win, but hardly empty-handed.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cCertainly eye-opening being able to play against some of the best players in the world, [realising] the things that I need to do better,\u201d Shelton said in his post-match press conference Friday. \u201cI’m not the player that I want to be yet. Not close. There’s so many things that I need to work on.\u201d<\/p>\n 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<\/a>, made a career-best fourth-round run at Roland Garros<\/a>, and began this week at a career-high No. 5.<\/p>\n The lefty retired from the US Open<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n \u201cI think tennis is a sport where you don’t get instant gratification,\u201d Shelton said. \u201cI 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.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’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.\u201d<\/p>\n After falling to defending champion Jannik Sinner<\/a> 6-3, 7-6(3) on Friday, Shelton slipped to 1-8 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with the Italian. The American\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
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