Ben Shelton sets the record straight after his and Coco Gauff's night out with Chris Eubanks leads to "romance rumors"

Ben Shelton appeared to take a playful swipe at the media for fueling romance rumors about his bond with Coco Gauff. The rumors stemmed from photos of the pair's public outing in Melbourne that were captured by the paparazzi, conveniently cropping out their compatriot Chris Eubanks.

Following Ben Shelton's 6-3, 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-4 second-round win at the ongoing 2025 Australian Open over Pablo Carreno Busta, the American hilariously revealed that Chris Eubanks was apparently not happy about him being cropped out from the photos. He also laid bare the trio's collective liking for 'escape room', which typically involves solving puzzles to find keys for locked rooms.

"Yeah, me Chris and Coco, we'll do escape room, sometimes we'll go on a dare. We might be retired after this week because the paparazzi are taking pictures of us and cropping Chris out of the photo, so Chris wasn't too happy about that," Shelton said.

The Express Tribune and Daily Mail were two of the publications to have indicated the rumors of a budding romance between Shelton and Gauff through articles. While The Express Tribune's article was titled 'Coco Gauff fuels romance rumors with Ben Shelton at Australian Open amid playful sightings', the Daily Mail article's title read, 'Coco Gauff fuels romance rumors as she steps out with tennis heartthrob Ben Shelton at the Australian Open'.

A few days ago at a press conference, Ben Shelton opened up on his relationship with Coco Gauff, Chris Eubanks and other American tennis stars.

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Ben Shelton spoke up about bond with Coco Gauff, Chris Eubanks and others at Australian Open press conference

Ben Shelton (Source: Getty)

Shelton revealed the true nature of his relationship with Gauff along with Chris Eubanks and some other American tennis stars participating at the 2025 Australian Open. According to Shelton, he is "close friends" with both Gauff and Eubanks.

"I'm friends with most of them. Definitely close friends with Coco and Chris Eubanks. We've been watching pretty closely to see if Banks will get in as a lucky loser. He was third, and one guy pulled out. Obviously, I was watching Navarro and Stearns today. Two college players, and yeah, that was an absolute war. I love to see where American tennis is at. I love watching Reilly Opelka being back and playing great," Shelton said.

Shelton, the No. 21 seed in the men's singles draw at the 2025 Australian Open, is slated to lock horns with the 16th-seeded Lorenzo Musetti in the third round. The American has so far lost both ATP Tour-level meetings with the Italian.

Meanwhile, Coco Gauff, the No. 3 seed in the women's singles draw, has so far comfortably dispatched Sofia Kenin and Jodie Burrage across the first two rounds of the Melbourne Major. The 2023 US Open champion is yet to drop a set at the 2025 Australian Open and is set to face 2021 US Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez in the third round.