'They can be a runaway train': Ben Shelton shares what makes Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz extremely hard to beat

Ben Shelton has opened up about the difficulty of playing against Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. Both are already regarded as two of the best players currently playing in men’s tennis. Sinner and Alcaraz have now shared the last six Grand Slam titles in men's tennis.

This year, both players have won one major competition each. In January, Sinner lifted the Australian Open for the second time in his career after beating Alexander Zverev in the final in straight sets with a score of 6-3, 7-6, 6-3. Most recently, Alcaraz lifted his fifth major and second French Open title after beating Sinner in an epic five-set thrilling final with a score of 4-6, 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 7-6.

On his way to the title, Alcaraz defeated Shelton in the fourth round with a score of 7-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. Shelton is currently in Stuttgart, where he is taking part in the Boss Open. The 22-year-old cemented his spot in the quarterfinal after beating Pierre-Hugues Herbert in straight sets with a score of 7-6, 7-5.

Shelton spoke to The Tennis Channel, where he inquired about what it's like to play against Sinner and Alcaraz. The Atlanta-born player highlighted that both players are highly efficient when it comes to winning ‘clutch’ points and making their opponents earn such moments, which makes them extremely hard to beat. Shelton was of the opinion that Sinner and Alcaraz are like a ‘runaway train’ once they are in their groove.

“Yea I don’t know. I think that you know, the way they play from the ground. Specially Sinner, I think guys are thinking differently about going toe-to-toe with them,” he said. “For me, I am not just the guy who rallies from the baseline, so I think it’s a whole different matchup. Playing both of them, I have had a lot of chances, recently, like sets I didn’t close out, set points on my racket, and they play the clutch points, the big points, really really well and they make you earn it. You know, that’s one big thing for me that I have kind of taken from those matches, one in Australia and one in French, you know when these guys gets going, they can be a runaway train. So having set points in the first set against Alcaraz and Sinner, those one stung. But I guess if you are going to lose to someone at a Grand Slam, you might as well lose to back to back to back defending champion both times.”