Ben Shelton registered a statement opening round victory at the Washington Open, defeating compatriot Mackenzie McDonald.
Shelton, known for his big serve and powerful all-court game, found life relatively comfortable as he beat McDonald 6-3 6-4.
The American faces Gabriel Diallo in the next round, who pushed Taylor Fritz to five sets in the second round of Wimbledon.
Speaking of Wimbledon, Shelton performed admirably at the tournament, reaching the quarter-finals before losing to eventual champion Jannik Sinner.
Shelton, who was speaking to reporters after his victory over McDonald, discussed what he did when he beat Sinner in 2023.
Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty ImagesShelton describes how he beat Jannik Sinner in 2023
Back in 2023, Ben Shelton met Jannik Sinner at the Masters 1000 tournament in Shanghai. This meeting was just a few months before Sinner won his maiden Grand Slam title at the 2024 Australian Open.
The match was a nailbiter, and Shelton had to battle his way back from a set down to claim victory, eventually winning 2-6 6-3 7-6.
Fast forward to the 2025 Washington Open and Shelton is now number eight in the world and Sinner is a four-time Grand Slam champion.
Speaking after his victory against McDonald, Shelton described how he beat Sinner in 2023.
Shelton said: “Yeah, I think I’m a good athlete. I think I’m an all-court player. I don’t think a lot of guys are as willing to come to the net anymore.
“The time that I beat Sinner, I was coming into the net, no hesitation. I think that’s the style of tennis I like to play to compete and be at the top level, and that’s the next evolution of my game.
Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images
“The lack of hesitation, the split-second decisions to take away time, be aggressive, and impose my will on who I’m playing is where I need to be at. It’s a process. I’m not the player I want to be yet. I’m not where I want to be in a lot of areas, but I’m improving every year, getting better from the baseline every year.
“When I came on tour, I was poor from the baseline. My return numbers were the worst on tour. Now my return numbers are average, above average, top 100, and my serve is the same as where it’s been from the start if not a little bit better.
“I want to keep continuing to improve, and, you know, I think the exciting thing is there are a lot of areas I see I can improve. Yeah, closing that gap is a good goal for me.”
Jannik Sinner’s dominance against Ben Shelton
Since victory in their first meeting on the ATP Tour, Ben Shelton has been whitewashed by Sinner, who has established himself as one of this generation’s superstars alongside Carlos Alcaraz.
Since their meeting at the 2023 Shanghai Masters meeting, Sinner has recorded victories over Shelton in Vienna, Indian Wells, Shanghai, Australia and twice at Wimbledon.
TournamentShelton vs Sinner ResultWimbledon 2025Sinner won 7-6 6-4 6-4Australian Open 2025Sinner won 7-6 6-2 6-2Shanghai Masters 2024Sinner won 6-4 7-6Wimbledon 2024Sinner won 6-2 6-4 7-6Indian Wells 2024Sinner won 7-6 6-1Vienna 2023Sinner won 7-6 7-5Shanghai Masters 2023Shelton won 2-6 6-3 7-6
This is no knock on Shelton. Sinner has become a near-unstoppable force on the ATP Tour, as demonstrated by his dominance across the Grand Slams.
The Italian has won three of the last four Grand Slams, and came one point from completing something only Novak Djokovic and Rod Laver have achieved in the Open Era.