Day 1 - Under the lights: Shelton aims to shine against Sonego

Ben Shelton’s clay court game is still a work in progress but the American is feeling confident as he faces the Italian who beat him here in 2023.

 - Alix Ramsay

Ben Shelton (13) v Lorenzo Sonego: Sunday 25 May, Court Philippe Chatrier - not before 20:15

Ben Shelton’s introduction to European red clay was not pleasant. It was two years ago in Estoril and he got food poisoning. It is not a memory he cherishes – not that he is one to dwell on the past.

He is back in Paris for his third tilt at the Roland-Garros title. His debut ended in the first round; last year he reached the third round and this year he feels that his clay court game is improving. And this is a Grand Slam and Shelton loves the Slams – they invariably bring the best out of him.

Roland-Garros 2025 men's singles draw

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A semi-finalist at the Australian Open in January and at the US Open two years ago, he loves the big stages and the big matches. And even if clay is not his natural surface, he is ready to put on a show.

“I always want to do better than I did the year before in a tournament,” he said. “For me, I'm trying to go further here than I did last year.

“This is a tournament that I love playing. I think from year one to year two I improved a lot, I got a lot better, feel a lot more comfortable in year three. Yeah, I'm really excited to hopefully go deep. The Slams is where I play my best tennis.”

Ben Shelton, premier tour, Roland-Garros 2024©Cédric Lecocq / FFT

Ben Shelton at Roland-Garros 2024

He won the Houston title on clay last year and reached the Munich final last month so the improvements are plain to see. Sunday’s encounter will be the acid test, though: it was Lorenzo Sonego who beat Shelton in the opening round here back in 2023.

“Whoever's moving the best is going to be playing the best,” he said. “I think that's one of the things for me that's improved a lot, is my movement on the surface. There's still things that I need to get better. I'm not a complete clay court player yet, I'm not a finished product on the clay. Even though I am making some deep runs in clay court events now, I have a title on clay, there's just a lot of things that I'm continually trying to improve and work on.”

That said, Shelton on any surface is always fun to watch. Brimming with energy and with a whip-crack serve he is an all-action showman. And despite that defeat here, he leads his rivalry with the Italian by two wins to one.