Atlanta’s Ben Shelton falls to world No. 1 in fourth round of Wimbledon

LONDON, England — Atlanta native and world No. 14 Ben Shelton had his best Wimbledon showing of his career to date, but his run has come to an end.

Ben Shelton, 21, fell to world No. 1 Jannik Sinner of Italy on Sunday morning, but he put up a fight.

He lost in straight sets (6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (11-9)), but the final set ended with a thrilling back-and-forth tiebreaker.

This marks the second tiebreaking final set for Ben Shelton this tournament. In his second round match against South Africa’s Lloyd Harris, he came out on top with a 10-7 tiebreaker in the fifth set.

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By making it to the fourth round, which narrowed the field from 16 to eight, he matches his father’s best performance at Wimbledon three decades ago.

Bryan Shelton is 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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The older 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.

Ben 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.

Next up, Ben Shelton is returning to the Peach State to participate in the Atlanta Open later this month. Click here for tickets.

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