Ben Shelton set to break into Top 10 on ATP rankings after reaching semifinals in Stuttgart

It was a double milestone kind of day for Ben Shelton on Friday.

First of all, he reached his first grass-court semifinal after defeating Jiri Lehecka, 6-4, 6-4, to move into the final four in Stuttgart.

And with that, a ranking breakthrough: Shelton will now make his Top 10 debut when the new ATP rankings come out on Monday.

He'll rise to No. 10 to become the seventh man born in the 2000s—and first American man born in the 2000s—to crack the elite.

MEN BORN IN 2000s TO REACH ATP TOP 10:

• Felix Auger-Aliassime [born in 2000, Top 10 debut in 2021]
• Jannik Sinner [born in 2001, Top 10 debut in 2021]
• Carlos Alcaraz [born in 2003, Top 10 debut in 2022]
• Holger Rune [born in 2003, Top 10 debut in 2022]
• Jack Draper [born in 2001, Top 10 debut in 2025]
• Lorenzo Musetti [born in 2002, Top 10 debut in 2025]
• Ben Shelton [born in 2002, Top 10 debut in 2025]

With the current No. 10, Alex de Minaur, set to drop out of the Top 10 after not playing this week, having won 's-Hertogenbosch during this same week last year, it was going to be either Shelton (current No. 12) or Daniil Medvedev (current No. 11) taking his place—Shelton just needed to do better than Medvedev this week, and with Medvedev falling in the quarterfinals in 's-Hertogenbosch on Friday and Shelton reaching the semis in Stuttgart, the deal was sealed.

Shortly after Medvedev's narrow 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5) quarterfinal defeat to another American, Reilly Opelka, in the Netherlands, Shelton took the court in Germany for his quarterfinal against Jiri Lehecka.

And it was the exact same story in both sets—nine straight holds to start without even a single look at a break point for either player, then Shelton breaking right at the end of the set each time.

Lehecka double faulted on the last three points of the match.

Shelton was informed of his upcoming Top 10 debut in his on-court interview afterwards. "If that's true it's really cool, a big milestone in tennis," he said. "I guess Stuttgart is the place where Americans break into the Top 10, because I think you guys all saw Frances Tiafoe do it here a couple of years ago when he won that title.

"I'm just thinking about this week. I want to keep going this week. I'm going to give it my all for the rest of this tournament."

Tiafoe indeed made his Top 10 debut after winning Stuttgart in 2023—and just like Shelton will, Tiafoe rose from No. 12 to No. 10.

Awaiting Shelton in the semifinals of the grass-court event on Saturday will be the world No. 3, Alexander Zverev, a 7-5, 6-4 winner over another American, Brandon Nakashima, earlier in the day.

Zverev has won both of their previous meetings, a tight 3-6, 7-6 (3), 7-5 victory in the quarterfinals of Cincinnati on hard courts last year and a 6-2, 6-4 win in the final of Munich on clay this year.

This will be their first career meeting on grass.