Ben Shelton continues to play some of the best tennis of his career at the 2025 Wimbledon Championships.
In 2024, the American went five sets in each of his first three matches at Wimbledon, with all three having at least one tiebreaker. This time around, things are different.
Unlike last year, Shelton has dominated his matches, winning all of them in straight sets and only giving up two break points.
In his third round matchup of this year’s tournament, the former Gators men’s tennis star defeated Márton Fucsovics in straight sets 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2, punching his ticket to the Round of 16 for the second consecutive year.
“I like my chances right now the way that I’m playing,” Shelton said after the match. “We’re gonna keep this thing rolling.”
Shelton’s last game against Rinky Hijikata of Australia suffered a 12-hour delay due to curfew Thursday, despite the UF product being four points away from victory. Nonetheless, Shelton took just over a minute to finish off the match on Friday.
Fucsovics’ run at the tournament was much longer than Shelton’s going into their meeting. The Hungarian made the tournament after winning two of three matches in the qualifiers. Then, in the main bracket, both of his matches went the distance to five sets, with each of those matches having a set that also went to a tiebreaker.
Saturday’s contest marked the first time the two faced off against each other.
The first set started with the two trading holds, giving Shelton a 2-1 advantage going into the first break of the match. During the timeout, Fucsovics called a medical timeout, with his medical staff wrapping up his right middle finger. In the next game following the medical timeout, Shelton broke the Hungarian.
Fucsovics forced deuce to get a break of his own, but the former Gator fought him off to hold and take a 4-1 lead. The opening set finished with the two trading holds, resulting in Shelton taking the set 6-3.
The second set was much tighter. With every Fucsovics hold, Shelton followed with one of his own, tying the set at five games each. In the seventh game, Shelton had double break point but was unable to finish off the game. Fucsovics held again, taking a 6-5 lead, but with his back against the wall, the American forced a tiebreaker.
Once again, the two were neck and neck, with the tiebreaker knotted up at three. The American then won four of the next five points to prevail in the tiebreaker 7-4 and take a 2-0 lead in the contest.
The former national champion with the Gators came out strong to start the third set. Shelton took the first three games, including a break in the second game. The American then broke his opponent again to take a commanding 5-1 lead. Fucsovics broke Shelton to hang on, but he ultimately fell short 6-2.
Next, Shelton will play Lorenzo Sonego of Italy in the fourth round. The match will be played on Sunday or Monday.
“I’ve played him tight in Australia this year, I played him tight at Roland Garros,” Shelton said. “It’s only fitting that we match up here in Wimbledon.”
Contact Jeffrey Serber at [email protected]. Follow him on X @JeffreySerber.
Jeffrey is the Summer 2025 women's tennis beat reporter and a second-year journalism sports & media major. In his free time, he enjoys hanging out with friends and family, and rooting for the Miami sports teams.
