Ben Shelton and sister Emma send endearing Father's Day message to dad Bryan with sweet childhood memory
Ben Shelton and his sister Emma sent a heartfelt message to their father Bryan on this year's Father's Day on Sunday, June 15. The message featured a childhood memory of the siblings all smiles with Bryan and their mother Lisa with a cake in front of them.
Both Shelton and Emma took to their Instagram Stories to share the memory. Emma captioned her post:
"Think we won the dad lottery 😭❤️"
Ben Shelton, who recently broke into the ATP top 10 for the first time in his career under father Bryan's tutelage, reshared the post and added a loving caption of his own, writing:
"Father's Day ❤️"
Shelton announced in August 2022 that he would become a professional tennis player, having garnered a serious reputation for himself during his years of playing the sport in the NCAA. The American's rise has been mercurial, and his father Bryan has been instrumental in developing the 22-year-old's game.
So far, Shelton has won two singles titles on the ATP Tour and reached the semifinals at two Grand Slams (2023 US Open and 2025 Australian Open). Bryan, a former tennis player himself, coached Shelton in the NCAA before eventually joining his son on the ATP Tour as well. Last year, the 22-year-old reflected on his experience of being coached by Bryan during his college years.
Ben Shelton called experience of father coaching him in college days "tough"
At a press conference during his 2024 Wimbledon Championships campaign, Ben Shelton opened up on what it was like for him to be coached by father Bryan in the NCAA. At the time, things were different as Bryan wasn't just his son's coach, but also the coach of other players in the Florida Gators tennis team. According to Shelton, there was no room for any kind of bias.
"He was obviously my coach in college and that was tough because there are 11 other guys on the team. I’m the coach's son, so he has to show that there’s no favoritism, which I understand. But also I’m running more sprints than everyone else when I do something wrong or show up late. I’m getting chewed out for more. If I lose a match it’s a bigger deal than everyone else," Shelton said.
Ben Shelton's most recent competitive outing came in a semifinal loss to ATP No. 3 Alexander Zverev in the recently-concluded Boss Open. Next up for the 22-year-old is the HSBC Championships in London's Queen's Club. The American, seeded No. 6 in the men's singles main draw at the ATP 500 grasscourt event, will begin his campaign with a match against Arthur Rinderknech on Tuesday, June 17.