{"id":629460,"date":"2025-09-12T13:52:38","date_gmt":"2025-09-12T12:52:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/?p=629460"},"modified":"2025-09-12T13:52:48","modified_gmt":"2025-09-12T12:52:48","slug":"nicolas-escude-believes-ben-shelton-third-man-in-jannik-sinner-carlos-alcaraz-rivalry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/nicolas-escude-believes-ben-shelton-third-man-in-jannik-sinner-carlos-alcaraz-rivalry\/","title":{"rendered":"Nicolas Escude Believes the Rising American Ben Shelton Is the Third Man in the Jannik Sinner-Carlos Alcaraz Rivalry"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Former Australian Open semi-finalist Nicolas Escude believes Ben Shelton is the player most likely to join Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz at the top of men&rsquo;s tennis. The 21-year-old American was forced to retire in the third round of the 2025 US Open with a shoulder injury, halting what many thought could be a deep run. Yet Escude insists Shelton&rsquo;s rise is only a matter of time, hinting he could be the one to transform the current duopoly into a trio.&nbsp;<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">At 22 years old, Ben Shelton becomes the youngest American man to make three Major Round of 16 appearances in a year since Andy Roddick in 2004 &#127482;&#127474; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/OOHdgD0HNz\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>pic.twitter.com\/OOHdgD0HNz<\/a><\/p>&mdash; ESPN (@espn) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/espn\/status\/1941573823368765545?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>July 5, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Escude Sees Shelton as One of the New Big Three<\/h2><p>Speaking to the Eurosport Tennis Club, Escude praised Shelton&rsquo;s rapid development.<em> &ldquo;He&rsquo;s had a great summer, he&rsquo;s been surprising for a while now. Even on clay, I didn&rsquo;t expect him to reach this level so quickly.&rdquo;<\/em><\/p><p>He added, &ldquo;<em>At the US Open, he was the one I was counting on to reach the semi-finals and, why not, cause a surprise against an Alcaraz or a Sinner. But that hasn&rsquo;t yet been confirmed in terms of results and ranking.&rdquo; <\/em>Escude acknowledged Djokovic&rsquo;s continued relevance. <em>&ldquo;Indeed, Djokovic is still the third man today, but the third man to come would potentially be Ben Shelton.&rdquo;<\/em><\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Ben Shelton has now reached the second week at 50% of the Grand Slams he's played in his career.<br><br>And that's why I'm on the hype train. He's not the most consistent player outside of Slams, but he turns up when it matters most. He loves a stage.<br><br>Like it or not, Slams define you. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/28uVjIe9TN\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>pic.twitter.com\/28uVjIe9TN<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Bastien Fachan (@BastienFachan) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BastienFachan\/status\/1941606677146403052?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>July 5, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure><p>For now, the Serbian remains the biggest challenger, having reached the semifinals of all four majors this season. But at 38, his era is fading. In contrast, Alcaraz and Sinner have dominated, splitting the last eight Grand Slam titles and collecting 21 career trophies between them. Sinner has also become Italy&rsquo;s first world No. 1, while Alcaraz reclaimed the top spot after his 2025 US Open win.<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Ben Shelton was forced to retire for the first time in 178 career matches.<br><br>He will be back, no doubt about that &#128074; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/dlm5Kajlbb\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>pic.twitter.com\/dlm5Kajlbb<\/a><\/p>&mdash; US Open Tennis (@usopen) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/usopen\/status\/1961538425351458997?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>August 29, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure><p>The search for a new rival is intensifying, though some believed Alexander Zverev, world No. 3, could pose a threat, but his current form doesn&rsquo;t support that. Escude&rsquo;s vote of confidence suggests Shelton, with his explosive game and fearless mentality, is primed to break through. However, for the world No. 6, Shelton&rsquo;s US Open setback may have delayed the narrative, but if the Frenchman&rsquo;s prediction proves right, the men&rsquo;s game could soon witness a genuine three-way battle.&nbsp;<\/p><p><em>Mandatory Image Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"mm-layout mm-layout-type-post mm-layout-slot4\">\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nicolas Escude has predicted Ben Shelton to challenge Sinner and Alcaraz.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":629461,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_mux_skip_reasons":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[4770],"tags":[5238,4948,9725,4949],"class_list":["post-629460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tennis","tag-ben-shelton","tag-carlos-alcaraz","tag-nicolas-escude","tag-novak-djokovic"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - 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