In an interview with Sky Sports, Ben Shelton revealed which players he most enjoys watching play tennis. The young American named Carlos Alcaraz and Grigor Dimitrov, snubbing the ATP No.1 Jannik Sinner.
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"I love watching Alcaraz and I love watching Dimitrov play. I would say those two are my favorite players when it comes to watching a match. Alcaraz is a great athlete, he can make the difference with every shot, he entertains the crowd and he always has a smile on his face. He is a personality on the court, that's what I like to watch and it gives me the chance to see an entertainer but also someone who plays at the highest level. Grigor plays the match so well. I think a lot of what he does is similar to what Roger Federer did. Perfect technique, the slice, the serve. He is technically good in every shot, that's why I love watching him," he explained.
The 22-year-old American is certainly among the players most expected to make a leap in quality. In the United States there are many hopes for him also to get back to winning a Slam title, which has been missing in men's tennis for more than 20 years, since Andy Roddick won the US Open in 2003. At the moment Shelton is number 20 in the ATP rankings, definitely far from Sinner and Alcaraz. But he has the talent and time to be able to threaten the two leaders of world tennis.
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Regarding the rivalry between Carlitos and Jannik, Ivan Ljubicic also expressed an interesting opinion, in an interview for Sky Sport, expressing some interesting considerations on the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin. According to Roger Federer's former coach, Sinner is the absolute favorite at the Masters Tournament for the level expressed this year on hard courts and for the form shown both at the Shanghai Rolex Masters and at the Six Kings Slam. The Croatian coach believes, however, that the most dangerous rival for the ATP number 1 will not be Alcaraz, as the Spaniard's performances in indoor conditions have never convinced him.
"If we want to look for someone who is closer to Jannik, I would say Alexander Zverev. But Jannik, without a doubt, is the big favorite. Sinner is the big favorite at the Turin Finals, also because Alcaraz still has to convince me at an indoor level. His level is very high outdoors, but when he plays indoors he suffers. In Turin he suffered a lot last year, especially from a mental point of view. Let's see if things will change," said Ljubicic.
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Zverev has won the tournament that brings together the best eight players of the season twice in his career: the first in 2018 in London, beating Novak Djokovic in the final; the second in 2021 in Turin, beating Daniil Medvedev instead.
