Young American Ben ‘The Mountain’ Shelton has joined the all-star cast for the UTS Ultimate Tennis Showdown in Los Angeles this July.

Known for his big serve and imposing power game, the 20-year-old left-hander has skyrocketed up the rankings over the past year, climbing from outside the top 500 just 12 months ago to his current ranking of No 35.

Shelton, the 2022 NCAA singles champion, reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open in January this year in what was the first overseas trip. He has already claimed 3 ATP Challenger titles and one ITF World Tour title during his short career so far.

Shelton joins an impressive field for the UTS Ultimate Tennis Showdown in Los Angeles, which already includes Americans Taylor ‘Hotshot’ Fritz and Frances ‘Big Foe’ Tiafoe, Aussie Nick ‘King’ Kyrgios and Argentina’s Diego ‘El Peque’ Schwartzman.

Shelton : “I think UTS getting young people into tennis”

“I decided to say yes to play in the UTS in 2023 because I think it’s a great new avenue to grow our sport, I think that’s a type of tennis that’s gonna be very different and exciting and I think that it will really help grow the sport and grow the groups that are tennis fans. I think that getting young people into tennis and excited about tennis is really important for the future of our sport and from what I’ve seen so far UTS has a lot of those qualities.” said Ben Shelton.

“I think this format is really good for my style because the fast pace, energetic feeling to playing quarters and kind of the non stop action and points being played, I think how energetic I am on court and the way that I play it will really help me out.”

UTS see the return of professional tennis to the greater Los Angeles area. The city had earlier hosted an ATP event from 1968 to 2012 which had an impressive roster of champions including Rod Laver, Jimmy Connors, Arthur Ashe, John McEnroe, Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras and Juan Martin del Potro.

The UTS Ultimate Tennis Showdown takes place from July 21-23 at the Dignity Health Sports Park in

Carson, on the Campus of California State University, Dominguez Hills in a stadium that can host 7,200 fans. 

You can purchase tickets here