Who Is Ben Shelton Coach In 2023?

Last Updated on June 12, 2023

The latest US tennis’ rising star, recognizable for his best weapon, his serve, is 20-years old left-handed tennis player, Ben Shelton.

Ben Shelton was born on 9th October 2002 in Atlanta, USA. He was growing up in a sports family, his father Bryan is a former professional tennis player and Florida Gators men’s tennis coach and his mother Lisa was a highly-ranked junior tennis player.

He has a sister, Emma, who also played college tennis in Florida. But at first, Ben did not want to play tennis, instead he played American football until he was twelve years old when he began playing tennis regularly, coached by his father.

As a junior, although he considered playing ITF junior tournaments abroad, his father convinced him to stay in USA and have a daily training routine which will help him in his tennis development.

After graduating from Buchholz High School, he committed to the University of Florida’s tennis program. Due to turning professional, he continued his studies online.

Who Is Ben Shelton’s Coach?

Bryan Shelton

Ben is lucky enough to grow up in a tennis family, and since his beginnings, he is coached by his father Bryan Shelton.

Bryan Shelton was born on 22nd December 1965 in Huntsville, Alabama, USA. He started playing tennis since his early age. He attended Randolph High School in Huntsville and played for Randolph Raiders boy’s tennis team, with whom in 1984 as a senior, he won the Alabama high school singles championship.

After graduating from high school, he accepted an athletic scholarship from Georgia Institute of Technology where he played for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets tennis team. Bryan was Atlantic Coast Conference champion in singles in 1985 and in doubles in 1986, and was named an All-American in 1988.

He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in industrial engineering and in 1993 was inducted into the Georgia Tech Athletics Hall of Fame. His professional career lasted for eight years, period in which he won two titles in singles and doubles, each.

He retired form pro tennis in 1997 and started coaching, at first as a USTA National Coach.

From 1999 until 2012 he was head coach of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets women’s tennis team, and since June 2012 he was hired by University of Florida as their Gators men’s tennis team.

Three times was named ACC Coach of the Year, in 2002, 2005 and 2007.

As for his son’s career, he did not pressure him to play tennis since youngest age. When Ben decided to dedicate only to tennis, he was there for him to guide and coach.

“Why do you need to travel abroad when you are not the best player in the USA? Stay here to practice daily and improve your tennis, and not to spent time just on traveling to tournaments.” Bryan advised his son when he considered playing ITF tournaments at age of sixteen.

And he was right. Later Ben gained experience playing college tennis and during his freshmen year 2021, helped lead the Gators to their first national championship. That year he played at M25 Champaign Open, an ITF tournament and won title in singles and doubles.

In his sophomore college year, he won the NCAA Singles Championship and finished the year as the no.1 player in ITA rankings. Also, was named the ITA and SEC Player of the Year. Same year he turned pro, made his ATP and Grand Slam debut and won three Challenger titles.

That led him in the top 100 players in the World, finishing the year as no.97 on ATP list. Than he announced that he would be represented by agent Alessandro Sant Albano, who is a part of Roger Federer’s Team8 management team.

Ben had strong start of this season by playing his first tournament outside USA, at Australian Open and achieving great result by reaching the quarterfinals. As a note, the last NCAA singles champ to make the following year’s Australian Open quarterfinals was Arthur Ashe, in 1966. It may be a sign of what kind of tennis future awaits him.

Also Read:

• Ben Shelton’s Net Worth 2023 – Prize Money, Salary, Sponsors
• Ben Shelton’s Tennis Racket: A Look At The Gear Of An American Tennis Star

Dean Goldfine

Besides his father, from 2022 when he turned pro, Ben hired Dean Goldfine as his traveling coach.

Dean Goldfine (57) was born on 8th March 1965 in Chicago, Illinois. In high school he played number one for Chaminade-Madonna College Preparatory School and then he played for Texas A&M University.

As pro player he didn’t have much success, he reached a career-high singles ranking of World no.628.

During his coaching career he was working with several top ATP players. For six years until 2002 he was Todd Martin’s coach and led him to a career-high rank of World no.4. In 2003 was named as one of USTA High Performance Coaches and next year he was team coach for USA tennis team at the Olympics in Athens.

Having a great experience of working with him in the USA team, Andy Roddick hired him as a replacement for Brad Gilbert as his full-time coach. Under Dean’s mentorship Andy won five titles and reached Australian Open semifinal and Wimbledon final.

Dean also worked with Xavier Malisse, Aaron Krickstein and Mary Joe Fernandez. After retirement from pro coaching career, he started coaching top juniors and since 2022 is Shelton’s traveling coach.

Also Read:

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• Who is Sebastian Korda’s Coach?
• Who Is Ugo Humbert’s Coach?
• Who Is Andy Murray’s Coach?
• Who Is Lorenzo Sonego’s Coach?

Ben Shelton’s Achievements With Different Coaches

We have collected in the table the data about the trophies won by Ben Shelton under the guidance of various coaches.