Ben Shelton takes ball girl under his umbrella in heartwarming gesture during rain delay in doubles match at ATP Shanghai
- The 21-year-old lost to Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals of the US Open last month
- Shelton played with Hubert Hurkacz at the doubles version of ATP Shanghai
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Ben Shelton has emerged as the new crowd favorite at the 2023 Shanghai Masters after he generously invited a ball girl to share his umbrella amid rain during his doubles match.
Shelton and Hubert Hurkacz faced Cam Norrie and Rinky Hijikata in the ATP Masters 1000 tournament’s round of 32 on Monday. The American and the Pole started strongly, capitalizing on a key break point to take a lead of 5-4 to take in the first set.
However, rain interrupted play before they could attempt to serve out the set.
As usual, ball boys quickly get into position to protect players from drizzle, though when he notices a ball girl holding an umbrella for him at the expense of covering herself, Shelton kindly relieves the ball girl of her duties.
Instead, the US Open semifinalist invited her to sit next to him, so they could share shelter together.
Ben Shelton (L) shared cover with a ball girl during his doubles match in Shanghai on Monday
The world’s no. 20 earned a round of applause from supporters in the stands as they too applauded him in response to his heartwarming gesture.
Once play resumed, momentum shifted, with Norrie and Hijikata eventually taking command of the first set, 7-5.
Despite fighting back strongly to take the second set, 7-5,. Shelton and Hurkacz were unable to secure victory as Norrie and Hijikata ran out winners 7-5 5-7 (10-6).
The 21-year-old Shelton is also competing in the singles version of the tournament in Shanghai. He came from behind to beat Roman Safiullin, 3-6 6-3 6-4, to advance to the fourth round.
Shelton, 21, burst onto tennis’ biggest stage at the US Open, where he lost in the semifinals.
He will play against the no. 6 seed Jannik Sinner faces a huge showdown for a place in the quarterfinals.
Sinner, meanwhile, defeated Marcos Giron 7-6 (7) 6-2 before beating Sebastien Boez 3-6 6-3 6-2 to reach the competition’s last 16.
Hurkacz is also alive in the singles series and will also face home favorite Zhizhen Zhang on Tuesday.
The world’s no. 9 leads 1-0 in his against Zhang. He won their only previous competition at the 2019 Shanghai Masters in straight sets.