Smash, with Shelton the USA is now aiming high

From Monday 15 April the ATP rankings will also officially show what everyone has known for some time, namely that America’s No. 1 is Ben Shelton. The victory in Houston of the 21 year old from Atlanta and the almost simultaneous elimination of Taylor Fritz in Monte Carlo, at the hands of our Lorenzo Musetti, have certified the overtaking in the virtual ranking, which sees Shelton, in thirteenth place, ahead of the Californian, now n.14 . Fritz is approaching 27 years old, he is an excellent player but he has never made the real leap in quality, or at least what was expected of him, especially after the victory at Indian Wells and the arrival in the top 5 in 2022, the highest position achieved by an American since 2009, when Andy Roddick achieved it, himself the last Yankee to become No. 1 in the world. Taylor has never gone beyond that point, which is currently the highest point of his career: tennis would be too, but too many ups and downs in the game and some physical ailments have prevented him, and will probably prevent him, from doing much more than like this, that is, being a good top ten, or on the edge of the top ten, for a few more years or nothing more.