As the French Open 2024 intensifies, more and more players look for ways to improve their clay-court skills. To that extent, star American tennis player Ben Shelton visited the Patrick Mouratoglou Academy in Paris to practice on a clay court. This is happening weeks after Coco Gauff did the same, to try and emulate her idol Serena Williams’ plan to excel on clay.
It is interesting how Serena Williams’ excellence on a clay court, as a result of Patrick Mouratoglou’s support, has now created a ripple effect on players like Coco Gauff and Ben Shelton. Williams won 2 out of her 3 French Open titles under Mouratoglou. The doting coach has previously talked about Williams’ champion mentality and burning desire that saw her win in 2013 and 2015.
So Coco Gauff followed in her shoes and headed to the academy ahead of the Italian Open. Now, Shelton asked for the same and Mouratoglou graciously accepted. Shelton was practicing with Danish player Holger Rune, Mouratoglou’s current pupil.
Both Shelton and Rune were hitting some hard forehands in the video that Mouratoglou Tennis Academy shared on Instagram. They were both training hard, amidst their French Open journey.
Mouratoglou Tennis Academy wrote, “See where the players train before @rolandgarros! Check out some of these shots when @holgerrune and @benshelton faced each other on one of our covered clay courts recently.”
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They were building a good rally every time, and it took a terrific shot from either to earn a point. Even Mouratoglou showed a glimpse of himself in the clip once.
Tennis fans were happy to see the two players practicing hard for the tournament. They were also enjoying playing each other, a collaboration that many fans loved. This was especially because Rune and Shelton are two bright future tennis stars besides Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. And both have a good opportunity to win the Roland Garros title this year.
Holger Rune has an interesting equation with Ben Shelton, as the former was also spotted earlier this year with the latter’s lookalike from the United States.
The Equation Between Holger Rune and Ben Shelton
Before Ben Shelton and Holger Rune were practicing recently, Rune once practiced with Carlos Alcaraz’s hitting partner – Darwin Blanch. Darwin Blanch is a 16-year-old American player, who became popular after he played his first match at the Madrid Open against his idol, Rafael Nadal. However, Blanch looks exactly like Shelton, and this became the fodder for all discussion on the Internet.
Darwin Blanch, long-time training partner of Alcaraz, enjoyed a practice yesterday with Holger Rune!
The 16-year-old received a main draw wildcard at the #MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/b5DP9DqKzu
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) March 18, 2024
Many commented that Holger Rune was spotted with Ben Shelton’s doppelganger. But Rune didn’t say anything on the matter yet.
Holger Rune and Ben Shelton also played together at the Indian Wells Doubles last year. This suggests that they know each other’s game very well. They lost their match though, to the duo of Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov by 1-6, 3-6.
As of now, both Rune and Shelton have won their first-round matches at the French Open 2024. Rune beat Dan Evans 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 and will play next against Flavio Cobolli, and Shelton beat Hugo Gaston 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 and will play Kei Nishikori next.
