close
close

Atlanta native comes from behind to survive first round at Wimbledon – 95.5 WSB

LONDON, England — Atlanta native and world No. 14 Ben Shelton is still alive at Wimbledon.

Shelton, a 21-year-old rising tennis star born in Atlanta, made a splash at the US Open last year, becoming the youngest American to reach the US Open semifinals since 1992.

After impressive performances at all four major tournaments last year, he arrives at Wimbledon as the No.12 seed.

Shelton won his first-round match against Italian Mattia Bellucci 4-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Bellucci took the early lead by winning two of the first three sets. But Shelton made up for it in the second half of the match by winning the final two sets to clinch the match.

Last year at Wimbledon, Shelton reached the second round, his best result of the tournament. He beat Japan’s Taro Daniel in the first round, but lost to Serbia’s Laslo Djere in the second round.

As he takes to the court for the second round, Shelton will be hoping to surpass his best ranking at the UK major.

He is expected to face South African Lloyd Harris on Wednesday morning.

Later this month, Shelton will compete in the Atlanta Open.