Ben Shelton backed to replace Novak Djokovic as ‘the third man’ by former world No 17
Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have established themselves as the two front-runners in men’s tennis with Novak Djokovic currently the best of the rest, but a former world No 17 believes a rising star will eventually replace Djokovic as the main challenger to the Big Two.
The top two have dominated the Grand Slams and other big events over the past 24 months as they have shared the eight majors – winning four each – with Djokovic the last player not named Sinner or Alcaraz on the back of success at the 2023 US Open.
They generally tend to win tournaments they enter as they have won 21 titles between them (Alcaraz with 11 and Sinner with 10) while Sinner has monopolised the top spot in the ATP Rankings since becoming the first Italian to reach No 1 in the world in June last year.
The 24-year-old spent 65 consecutive weeks at No 1 before he was replaced after the US Open by his great rival with the Spaniard back at the top for the first time since September 2023.
The top two are followed by Alexander Zverev in the rankings, but the German has fallen away badly after his initial success at the start of the year when he finished runner-up to Sinner at the Australian Open.
Tennis great Djokovic sits at No 4 and many believe he is still the main challenger to Alcaraz and Sinner, with the Serbian reaching the semi-finals of all four Grand Slams this year.
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The 24-time major champion, though, is in the twilight of his career and many are looking for a new player to step up to the plate.
Former Australian Open semi-finalist Nicolas Escude believes that player is Ben Shelton.
The 21-year-old American has climbed to a career-high No 6 in the ATP Rankings after winning his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title at the Canadian Open.
Many expected him to reach the latter stages of the US Open, but he was forced to retire with a shoulder injury during his third-round match.
Frenchman Escude told Eurosport Tennis Club: “He’s had a great summer, he’s been surprising for a while now. Even on clay, I didn’t expect him to reach this level so quickly.
“At the US Open, he was the one I was counting on to reach the semi-finals and, why not, cause a surprise against an Alcaraz or a Sinner. But that hasn’t yet been confirmed in terms of results and ranking.
“Indeed, Djokovic is still the third man today, but the third man to come would potentially be Ben Shelton.”
