Ben Shelton will get his second ATP Finals campaign underway today against his first opponent, Arthur Fils.
The 23-year-old American, who exited last year’s edition of the ATP Finals in the group stage, is seeded third this time around following an impressive 2026 campaign. Shelton clinched four tour-level titles this season, including a second ATP Masters 1000 crown at the Canadian Open, and reached his first Grand Slam final at the US Open.
Shelton’s conqueror in the US Open final, Alexander Zverev, is one of his three round-robin opponents in Turin.
Ben Shelton praises Alexander Zverev for his season
Shelton has never beaten Zverev on the ATP Tour and trails the German 0-6 in their head-to-head. Asked in an interview with Tennis TV what makes Zverev so difficult to beat, Shelton said: “I think the way he moves, the way he serves, how solid he is from the baseline.
“The amount of returns he puts in play. He’s a tough guy to play, especially with so much height and length. He’ll cover the box so well. He covers the court really well. He’s a lights-out server. There are a lot of things that make it tough to play him.
Which player do you think will win the 2026 ATP Finals?
“I think it’s pretty clear why he ended this year world number one. I think that obviously for him, it’s a lot of the things that he dreamed of. Accumulation of decades of hard work and finally being able to break through and get his first Slam.
“Getting two in one year is very, very impressive. I’m super happy for him. I think everyone on tour has a lot of respect for the way he goes about things and how hard he works.” Zverev recorded his best-ever season on the ATP Tour in 2026, winning his first two majors at Roland Garros and the US Open, before rising to world number one for the first time.
Ben Shelton rates his season out of 10 before the ATP Finals
Rating his own season out of 10, Shelton said: “Gosh, it’s interesting because I had so many ups and downs. I had some really tough parts of the year. It was not great at the Masters 1000 level. Two bad slam performances. I’d give it a seven, seven and a half out of ten. I did some things that I wanted to accomplish this year, but I figured I had a lot more work to do.”
Shelton lost all three of his group stage matches at the ATP Finals last season, falling to Zverev, Jannik Sinner and Felix Auger-Aliassime. “I think that being here the second time, I’m used to the spectacle,” said Shelton. “I’m used to the atmosphere.
“I think I’m more mature as a player and a person. I have a better sense of identity and what it takes to win on these fast and hard courts. It’s a learning process each and every year. I think that I’m in a great place here to play well and hopefully get my first win here. I came out of here winless last year.”
Shelton has a 2-1 winning record against his first ATP Finals opponent, Fils, though the two have not played each other since 2024.
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