Ben Shelton’s bold ‘inevitable’ verdict on Americans winning Grand Slams in Alcaraz, Sinner era

Ewan West 15 Dec 2025 8:55 AM

Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz with Ben Shelton inset

Ben Shelton has given his verdict on whether American men can break through to win Grand Slam titles in an era being dominated by Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.

No American male player has won a major singles title since Andy Roddick secured his only Slam at the US Open in 2003.

Since then, only three American men have reached Grand Slam finals: Roddick, Andre Agassi and Taylor Fritz.

Fritz fell 3-6, 4-6, 5-7 to Jannik Sinner in the 2024 US Open championship match as he became the first American male to feature in a major final since Roddick at Wimbledon in 2009.

Having ended the 2025 season as the world No 6, Fritz is currently the top-ranked American man.

Shelton, the world No 9, is the second-highest ranked ATP player from his country.

The 23-year-old is a two-time Grand Slam semi-finalist, having fallen to Novak Djokovic in the last four at the 2023 US Open and Sinner at the same stage of the 2025 Australian Open.

Alcaraz and Sinner, who are ranked first and second, have each collected four of the last eight Grand Slams between them.

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In an interview with Front Office Sports, Shelton argued it is “inevitable” that an American man will win a major.

“I think that we’re on the right track,” said Shelton.

“I think that having the density of guys at the top is important. And then it’s inevitable. It’s just going to happen. And we’re slowly getting there.

“You know, it’s a question that we get asked in media pretty much every single week — at least every single month — and I can’t tell you when it’s gonna happen, I just know that we’re on the right track.

“We have two guys in the top 10 right now (Shelton and Taylor Fritz), which hadn’t been the case for a while, and so many young guys coming up that could make the same type of push.

“So I think just having a number of guys at the top who are confident and ready for their moment to come and to make that push to win a Slam — I think it’s gonna happen.”