American Ben Shelton reaches first Wimbledon quarterfinal - ESPN

Ben Shelton reached his first Wimbledon quarterfinal — doing a round better than his father-turned-coach, Bryan, did in 1994 — by beating Lorenzo Sonego 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (1), 7-5 on Monday.

Shelton, a 22-year-old American, improved to 3-0 against Italy's Sonego in Grand Slam action this season. It's the first time two men faced each other in a year's initial three majors since John McEnroe went 3-0 against Jimmy Connors in 1984.

The 10th-seeded Shelton also eliminated Sonego in the Australian Open's quarterfinals in January, and the French Open's first round in May.

«Every time I need a big point, he comes up with a highlight shot,» Shelton said, «and maybe the same, vice versa.»

Shelton finished this latest meeting with a flourish, breaking the 47th-ranked Sonego to avoid heading to a tiebreaker, then throwing his head back, yelling, «Come on!» and pounding his chest.

«I'm happy with the way that I played that last game. I feel like that was my best tennis, my best returning, and that's what I'm going to need to continue in this tournament,» said Shelton, who advanced to a matchup against No. 1 Jannik Sinner or No. 19 Grigor Dimitrov. «So for me to end the match with that sort of game gives me a lot of confidence moving forward.»

Shelton became the fourth Black American man to reach the quarterfinals at the All England Club since the Open era began, joining Arthur Ashe (three times), MaliVai Washington (1996) and Christopher Eubanks (2023).

Ashe (UCLA), Washington (Michigan) and Eubanks (Georgia Tech) played college tennis, as did Shelton, who won the 2022 NCAA singles title for the University of Florida.

Shelton joins No. 5 Taylor Fritz in the quarterfinals, extending a run that has seen two American men reach the last