Coco Gauff and Christopher Eubanks send heartfelt wishes to Ben Shelton on his 21st birthday

2023 US Open champion Coco Gauff and World No. 32 Christopher Eubanks wished Ben Shelton on his 21st birthday on Monday (October 9).

Shelton, who turned pro only last year, has made a steep upward climb in the ATP rankings in 2023. The American achieved a career-high ranking of 19 in the world last month, thanks to a giant-killing run to the semifinals of this year's US Open.

Coco Gauff and Christopher Eubanks, meanwhile, have been some of the most prominent figures among a slew of the 21-year-old's supporters. While Shelton considers Gauff to be like a sister to him, Eubanks happens to be the youngster's best friend on the ATP tour.

In that context, it made a lot of sense for the two Americans to extend their best wishes to Shelton on his birthday.

The women's No. 3 posted a picture of the 21-year-old riding a scooter with his friends on her Instagram stories. The 19-year-old's caption was rather interesting, though. She bookended it with a telephone emoji, which was a reference to Shelton's signature celebration.

"Happy birthdayyyy," she wrote, followed by two party emojis and a telephone emoji.

A screen capture of the 2023 US Open champion's Instagram story

Christopher Eubanks, meanwhile, put up multiple Instagram stories. In the first one, the 27-year-old posted a photo of himself and Shelton during one of their doubles outings on the ATP tour, with a rather brief write-up.

"My brother is finally 21 @BenShelton," he wrote, followed by a party emoji and a finger wag emoji.

A screen capture of Eubanks' story

He wrote a more detailed caption in the second story, claiming how the promising youngster was an 'incredible player, but an even better person'. He wrote:

"Happy 21st birthday bro @BenShelton, incredible tennis player but even better person. Never change [100 emoji], [fist pump emoji]."

A screen capture of Eubanks' story

"Coco Gauff is a little sister to me! She’s definitely one of the ones I’m talking about" - Ben Shelton

Ben Shelton and Coco Gauff give each other a high-five

Ben Shelton and Coco Gauff, in particular, get along quite well going by his recent account. In a previous interview with GQ, the youngster revealed that the 2023 US Open champion often pulls his leg over his relative inexperience on the main tour.

"So she messes with me sometimes, she’ll be like, ‘Hey, what’s up, rookie? How’s the year going so far? Coco is a little sister to me! She’s definitely one of the ones I’m talking about," he said back then.

During the interaction, the American also disclosed how both he and Gauff were the cynosure of all eyes at this year's New York Major. He said:

“At the US Open, the camera and the mic are always there. You go into the gym, they’re following you. I’m talking with Coco Gauff after we both won our match, there’s a mic above our head. You don’t really have a safe space where people aren’t watching. When you can get back to your hotel room, you can kind of relax."

Coco Gauff followed up her maiden Major triumph in respectable fashion, reaching the semifinals of last week's China Open. Ben Shelton, meanwhile, will be vying for a last-eight spot in Shanghai when he takes on Jannik Sinner later on Tuesday (October 10).