"They are outrageous" - Ben Shelton not too pleased with fans speaking about his physique and looks

Ben Shelton is one of the younger bright superstars in tennis and has an ever-growing following. The fan following isn't just because of his amazing tennis though most of them are because of that. Part of the following is also because of his looks as the American has been featured in many edits on social media.

It's simply that time in human history, where popularity on the digital scene translates to all sorts of things and for Shelton, it's an amazing thing. He has seen his followers ballooning in recent times in part due to the edits. He was asked about it in an interview with People magazine and he admitted that he's aware of the edits but refrained from speaking too much about them noting that overall it's funny to him.

“It’s hard not to see that. They are outrageous. Some of the people, the comments and the captions, they got issues. It’s pretty funny for me.”

As outrageous as it might be, it's doing him good because the more followers he has on social media, the better he will be able to leverage that for opportunities off the court.

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Ben Shelton's tennis adventures

BNP Paribas Open - Day 4 - Source: Getty

While the edits might be fun, it's the tennis that will keep him relevant for the longest period of time. So far, Shelton has been able to prove himself as one of the better players on tour. He started this year well by making the Australian Open semifinal, the second time he made a Grand Slam semifinal.

He's slowly but surely getting close to winning his maiden Grand Slam trophy, though he's not yet counted as one of the favorites. Since Australia, his level has been a bit all over the place but now in the States he's hoping to get something out of the Sunshine Double. His Indian Wells campaign started off with a win over Mariano Navone, whom he beat in two simple sets 6-3, 6-2.

Now comes a bigger challenge as he's facing Karen Khachanov who is notoriously good on slower courts like this one. Shelton having come from college tennis doesn’t mind a variety of courts either and his massive serve will always make him a dangerous player to anybody.

He's also playing doubles this year pairing up with fellow American rising player Alex Michelsen. They face Sebastian Korda and Jordan Thompson in the first round. That's going to be a very interesting one as the four players are abundantly talented.