Ben Shelton's sister Emma celebrates American reaching Australian Open SF for 1st time

Ben Shelton's tennis-playing sister Emma Shelton lauded him for making history at the 2025 Australian Open. The former World No. 13 advanced to the semi-finals in the year's first Grand Slam tournament.

The two-time singles title winner on the ATP tour, Ben Shelton, reached the No. 1 position in the US rankings last year. He continued his momentum in the following events until touching down in Melbourne for the 2025 AO.

He defeated Brandon Nakashima, Pablo Carreño Busta, Lorenzo Musetti and Gaël Monfils in back-to-back rounds to face Italian Lorenzo Sonego in the quarterfinals. In a thrilling four-setter, Sonego succumbed to the American, who made history by qualifying for the first AO semi-finals in his career.

His sister Emma Shelton, a fellow tennis player and a Gators alum, congratulated him on her Instagram story. She captioned it with a few emojis.

Ben Shelton gets appreciation from sister Emma Shelton; Instagram - @_emmashelton

Despite clinching the win, Shelton expressed disappointment over the criticism players constantly face from the broadcasters. He addressed the incident when Novak Djokovic refused to speak after an on-court interviewer crossed the line and the 19-year-old Learner Tien who went through something similar at the Melbourne Park event.

Shedding light on how the broadcasters should treat athletes, the 22-year-old said (via Tennis.com):

"I don't think that was just a single event. I've noticed it with different people, not just myself. I know I’ve got a few people out in the crowd who are going to be pulling for me, too... I feel like broadcasters should be helping us grow our sport and help these athletes who just won matches on the biggest stage enjoy one of their biggest moments. I feel like there’s just been a lot of negativity. I think that’s something that needs to change.”

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Ben Shelton revealed how his AO quarterfinals opponent Gael Monfils helped him grow in his career

Ben Shelton and Monfils at the 2025 Australian Open - (Source: Getty)

Though Gael Monfils retired from tennis after the QF, handing the win to Ben Shelton, he won the hearts of fans. He embraced Shelton and then his father and former tennis player Bryan Shelton before walking off.

In the post-match interview, he talked about his and Monfils' off-court camaraderie and how the latter motivated him early in his career. He said (via express.co.uk):

"Gael has given me a few pep talks over the last few years, at certain times whether I was playing great and doing great and playing a lot, or maybe it was that 2023 run where I lost a lot of matches in a row or lost early in a lot of tournaments in a row."

He added:

“He said to me, it was important for him in his career that he found the places that he loved to play, and he focused on those weeks and doing really well in those weeks and knowing there are places that he doesn't love to play and not stressing as much.”

Ben Shelton has another Grand Slam semifinals appearance at the 2023 US Open. He also made it to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open that year.