Ben Shelton increases American tennis players' losing streak against World No. 1s to 25 after loss to Carlos Alcaraz at Canadian Open

Ben Shelton’s recent loss to Carlos Alcaraz at the 2023 Canadian Open has produced a discouraging stat involving American tennis players.

Following his straight-sets victory over Spain’s Bernabe Zapata Miralles at the Canadian Open, Ben Shelton locked horns with yet another Spaniard in Carlos Alcaraz on Wednesday. This was the two 20-year-olds’ first-ever career clash. It was also the American’s maiden meeting against a player ranked World No. 1.

Shelton, who grabbed the limelight one year ago after he scored his first top-10 win by dismissing former World No. 2 Casper Ruud at the Cincinnati Masters, was unable to produce a similar result this time around against Alcaraz.

The Australian Open quarterfinalist gave a tough fight in the second set, pushing the World No. 1 to a tiebreak. Shelton, however, fell short and lost the battle in straight sets 6-3, 7-6(3).

Doing so, the World No. 41 increased the disheartening losing streak of American tennis players against World No. 1s. As per data published by OptaAce, Americans have now lost 25 consecutive matches against players holding the top spot. Earlier this year, Tommy Paul and Taylor Fritz were similarly dismissed by Alcaraz in Miami, when he was ranked No. 1.

A similar streak of 25 losses previously occurred when 20-times Grand Slam champion and the then-World No. 1 Roger Federer defeated former World No. 4 James Blake in the summit clash of the 2006 ATP Finals.

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What Carlos Alcaraz said about facing Ben Shelton at the 2023 Canadian Open

Ben Shelton at the 2023 Canadian Open

While the scoreboard showed a straight-sets victory for Carlos Alcaraz, the one-hour and 39-minute-long battle against Ben Shelton was anything but, as per the Spaniard.

Alcaraz was contesting his first hardcourt match of the North American swing. The Spaniard confessed that he never played someone like Shelton before as he struggled to find his rhythm against the hard-hitting American.

“I never played against someone that hit the ball as hard as he hit. It's something crazy. You know, some serves at 235. Honestly, I almost broke my string,” Alcaraz said.

“He's really, really tough. So he's a real aggressive one. He didn't let me play my game that is aggressive going to the net. So he did it almost every time. It was not too good, honestly, because it was tough to get my rhythm,” he added.

The World No. 1 expressed with certainty that he will be facing Ben Shelton frequently on tour in the coming years.

“He's going to be over there a long time, I'm sure. We are going to play so many matches more,” the two-time Grand Slam champion stated.

With the match, Carlos Alcaraz scored his first-ever win in Canada, having faced a shock defeat in his opening match against American Tommy Paul last year.

The Spaniard, who is in pursuit of his seventh title of the season, will now face 2022 runner-up Hubert Hurkacz for a spot in the Canadian Open quarterfinals.