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Ben Shelton climbs to personal best No. 8 in ATP rankings ahead of Washington 500

Ben Shelton climbs to personal best No. 8 in ATP rankings ahead of Washington 500

USA Today6 days ago
Ben Shelton didn't even have to play last week, yet he's moving further up the ATP rankings, a personal best No. 8 in the world.
Holger Rune's loss of points from a Hamburg Open quarter-final run in 2024 sent him down a spot. Both players are set to participate in the Mubadala Citi DC Open, along with a handful of other top-10 players. Shelton could move up to No. 7 next week if he goes deeper in the tournament than Lorenzo Musetti, Andrey Rublev and Rune.
Shelton, the No. 4 seed in the Washington, D.C., 500-level event, faces wild card and world No. 95 Mackenzie McDonald in the Round of 32 on Wednesday with a start time to be determined. A win sets up a Round of 16 matchup with either the 15-seed, Gabriel Diallo, or Fabian Marozsan.
Doubles with a friendly rival
Shelton is also participating in doubles action alongside fellow American Francis Tiafoe. The two have trained together and battled fiercely on the court in recent years. As two of the country's young stars, there's a mutual respect between the two that should help them find chemistry.
The duo lost their only game at the London Queen's Club 500-level tournament in June. Shelton is ranked 147th in doubles and has a 4-7 record with various partners. Focusing on singles is a priority for Shelton, but he likes to play as much tennis as possible in these non-Majors.
Shelton and Tiafoe take on Matthew Ebden and John Peers in the opening round (of 16) on Monday in the final game of the night session in the stadium at the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center in Rock Creek Park.
Other Gators participating in DC Open
Shelton is the only Florida Gator in Washington this week. Sophomore Adhithya Ganesan and 2018-19 graduate Alfredo Perez are in the qualifying draw.
Ganesan is a top-40-ranked college player by the ITA and is getting his first taste of ATP qualifying action after playing exclusively in ITF tournaments. He fell to No. 82 Rinky Hijikata, 6-3, 7-5.
Perez held up with fellow alternate Andrea Vavassori in the first set, falling 7-5, but he retired after one game in the second set.
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