Ben Shelton could be “the guy” to end the long wait for a US men’s Grand Slam singles champion, according to former player and pundit Patrick McEnroe. 

While US women have had huge success at Slam level over the past two decades, it has been 21 years since an American male player lifted a major title.

Andy Roddick was the last player to do so, triumphing at the US Open in 2003, and until recently he was the last US ATP player to even reach a major final.

Taylor Fritz ended a 15-year wait for an American man in a Grand Slam final at the US Open in September, matching Roddick’s run to his fifth and last major final at Wimbledon in 2009.

The world No 6 has had a hugely consistent season, reaching further quarter-finals at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, and has moved well clear in the battle to be the national No 1.

However, former Davis Cup captain McEnroe believes it is Shelton who is more likely to win a major in the future.

Speaking on Tennis Channel’s Inside-In Podcast, the former top-30 star claimed Shelton would be more capable of handling top players than other stars such as Fritz and Sebastian Korda.

He said: “I’d like to say there’s a younger American. I’ve always been high on Korda but he just seems a little bit fragile physically. He can’t quite stay healthy enough to be a factor in a big tournament.

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“Then you’ve got Fritz who’s the most consistent American guy. I think a lot of things have to break right for Fritz to win a Major but he got to the US Open final, that was a hell of an effort.

“I think Ben Shelton’s got the most upside and even watching him at the Laver Cup, which I’ve been lucky to do for the last two years. Watching him play that match with Alcaraz, he lost in straight sets but the first 7-8 games, that was like tennis in a different stratosphere.

“He couldn’t do it for two sets and obviously to be able to do it over five sets is another story, but he did it for eight games.

“So if he can do it for eight games and match Alcaraz in the athleticism department and the shotmaking department then maybe he is the guy.”

Shelton is currently 19th in the ATP Rankings, returning to the top 20 following his runner-up finish at the Swiss Indoors on Sunday.

The 22-year-old has won two ATP titles so far in his career and has already gone deep at majors, reaching the quarter-final of the Australian Open and semi-final of the US Open in 2023.

He is currently the American No 4, behind Fritz, Tommy Paul, and Frances Tiafoe.

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