Sports

Mouratoglou Praises Shelton After Tsitsipas' US Open Run Ends in Fourth Round

By Sead Dedovic

Stefanos Tsitsipas' US Open campaign came to an end with a 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 defeat to Ben Shelton in the fourth round at Arthur Ashe Stadium, though the Greek player's performance throughout the tournament offered encouraging signs for his season. Shelton delivered one of his strongest performances of the tournament, breaking Tsitsipas four times and finishing with 32 winners. He won the first set in just 31 minutes and maintained control throughout, never allowing his opponent to settle into the match. Tsitsipas needed a medical timeout during the second set but could not recover. The victory marked Shelton's first career win over Tsitsipas, following a previous meeting in Cincinnati in 2023 that Tsitsipas won in two tiebreak sets. Shelton advanced to the quarterfinals, where he will face defending champion Carlos Alcaraz. Despite the loss, Tsitsipas' coach Patrick Mouratoglou struck an optimistic tone, praising both Shelton and his own player in an Instagram post. "Congratulations to Ben Shelton and his team for a perfect match and amazing performance," Mouratoglou wrote. "You were too good yesterday. This US Open has been full of learnings and progress for you Stefanos Tsitsipas. You have given everything and have played some beautiful tennis. Our team has done a great job and I am proud of everyone. The journey continues!" Mouratoglou, who joined Tsitsipas' coaching team earlier this season following another split with his father Apostolos as coach, previously worked extensively with Serena Williams among other top players. For Tsitsipas, the tournament represented a notable improvement despite the ultimate result. Entering the US Open ranked outside the top 50 and without a fourth-round Grand Slam appearance since the 2024 French Open, he opened his campaign against Arthur Fils, who had just won the Cincinnati Masters and held a 5-0 head-to-head advantage. Tsitsipas dropped the first set before rallying to win 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-1, 6-4. "I'm speechless, I can't be more happy," he said afterward. "I'm very proud of myself for how I fought." He credited his turnaround to lowering his own expectations during the match. "I let go of any expectations which is a heavy burden to carry in a match," he explained. Tsitsipas continued his run with a four-set win over Lloyd Harris, then defeated Jiri Lehecka 2-6, 6-1, 7-6(3), 6-1 in the third round to reach the US Open fourth round for the first time in his career. The achievement carried extra significance given his difficult year, which saw him drop to as low as No. 88 in the ATP rankings before rebounding with a title win in Gstaad in July. Ahead of his match against Shelton, Tsitsipas spoke about adopting a mental approach rooted in preparing for adversity. "I'm trying to accept this ancient Greek philosophy of preparing for the worst-case scenario in my mind before I go out onto the battlefield, before I go out into this war zone," he said. "I've already embraced that there might be really bad scenarios. It won't always be ideal, the way I like it, so going into a match with that kind of mindset allows me to view what I'm doing out there slightly different than usual." That mindset carried him through three tough matches before Shelton proved too strong in the fourth round. Still, this year's showing marked a clear improvement over his 2025 US Open, where he was limited to the second round while dealing with a back injury. This time, Tsitsipas won three matches, defeated a top-10 seed, and advanced further than he had in any previous appearance at Flushing Meadows. He is now set to shift his focus to the Asian hard-court swing, aiming to build on his New York performance and continue climbing back up the ATP rankings.