‘Felt Like a Football Match’ – Overwhelmed by Italian Open Crowd, Ben Shelton Delivers a Heartfelt Message

American ATP star Ben Shelton has finally become friends with the crowd. After receiving endless trolling from the spectators, this tennis’s rising star saw a change in the scenario in Foro Italico. Shelton who spoke about his nerve-wracking Indian Wells match against Francisco Cedrundolo, revealed how the coin has flipped for him in Rome.

Ben Shelton delved deeper into his recent match against Pavel Kotov at Foro Italico in an interview with the Tennis Channel. He seemed delighted seeing a change in the crowd’s response than last year. While responding to host Prakash Amritraj, Shelton said- “Yeah, I love the energy that I had. It felt like a football match, honestly, they really support tennis here in Europe. They love tennis. And yeah, you feel like you’re in a stadium and you’re playing for your country or something, even though, you know, most of my fans in the crowd today were Italian, but yeah, I felt like a lot of support.”

Shelton’s message showcased how the crowd’s reaction can motivate the player to perform well on the court. Last year, this American tennis star experienced a lot of booing from the audience while his opponent Alexander Bublik at the Italian Open’s second round received a lot of chants. However, this year, Shelton mentioned about how the situation transformed as he spotted many Italian fans rooting for him at the match. Not to forget, such enthusiasm helped this American ATP star to enter the tour’s third round.

“I think it’s something that grows while you play, and the longer you’re on tour dealing with different things, crowds, people you’re playing the things that they bring to the table that make things difficult. You know, I’ve actually I played Bublik here. Last year and I was on the other end of it, the crowd was booing me and chanting for him, and I was on the opposite end of the boos this year, in this match.” said Shelton.

While Shelton’s Italian fans cheered for him, he had a bizarre situation during his match against Argentinian Francisco Cedrundolo at Indian Wells this year.

Ben Shelton reveals that he had “a crazy match” against Cedrundolo at the Indian Wells 2024

This American ATP star faced severe trolling from the audience at his match against the Argentinian Cedrundolo at Indian Wells. The crowd not only distracted him with loud comments but they tried to break his spirit so that he would lose. However, Shelton rose to victory like a warrior and said- “Definitely a crazy match tonight. I heard the curfew was early here in Palm Springs. Volume up, the heckling was insane in this match. That’s why I reacted after the match point. But we got through it.”

“A lot of help from my box over there keeping me calm after losing the second set. Definitely took a lot out of me tonight. It’s just one of those atmospheres you love playing in. There’s people screaming for me. There’s people screaming for Fran. It’s all love guys. I know you guys were screaming at me, but hopefully, we can still be friends!” Shelton further said.