LONDON, England — Atlanta native and world No. 14 Ben Shelton advanced to the third round at Wimbledon after a thrilling five-set victory on Thursday.
The 21-year-old Shelton defeated Lloyd Harris of South Africa in five sets, with the final set going to an exhilarating, back-and-forth tiebreaker.
Shelton, who was born in Atlanta, made waves at the U.S. Open last year, becoming the youngest American to reach the U.S. Open semifinals since 1992.
After losing in the second round at Wimbledon last year, this marks Shelton’s best performance in the tournament to date.
Shelton’s dad is Bryan Shelton, a former Georgia Tech men’s tennis player and women’s tennis head coach. Bryan Shelton was an All-American at Georgia Tech in the 1980s and is in the Yellow Jackets’ Hall of Fame.
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Bryan Shelton also coached the Georgia Tech women’s tennis team to a national championship in 2007. He left in 2012 to become the men’s head coach at the University of Florida.
After his father was hired by Florida, the Shelton family moved to Gainesville from Atlanta.
Next up, Shelton will face off with Denis Shapovalov of Canada.
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