The clay court season is one of the most exciting periods on the tennis calendar. Coincidentally, this same time collides with the NBA playoffs. Hence, American tennis players are not able to enjoy the NBA Basketball Association postseason as much as they’d want to. Ben Shelton is facing the same problem as he is forced to stay up till 3 AM to catch the games.
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Reacting to Shelton’s dilemma, compatriot Tommy Paul came up with a straightforward piece of advice for the youngster.
Ben Shelton has had a mixed run at the Italian Open 2024. Shelton crashed out of the men’s singles event, losing to China No.1 Zhang Zhizhen in straight sets in the Round of 32. However, the former Florida Gator is still in Rome as he has made it to the quarterfinals of the men’s doubles event with Alexander Bublik as they overcame the Felix Auger-Aliassime/Frances Tiafoe and Marcelo Melo/Alexander Zverev duos.
But all good things come at a cost. For Shelton, he’s had to sacrifice watching the ongoing NBA Playoffs at his own comfort. Taking to Instagram, the 21-year-old shared a series of photos from the Foro Italico, so far. In his caption, the southpaw revealed his frustration with the time zones causing him to watch the NBA Playoffs as late as 3 AM.
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While Austin Rivers – an NBA player – seemed to find Shelton’s agony funny, Tommy Paul dished out some advice to his countryman. Paul simply suggested that Ben got “used to it”.
“Better get used to it bud,” Paul commented.
Ben Shelton is a huge fan of the Atlanta Hawks. The Hawks not qualifying for the postseason should have been a blessing in disguise for the Georgia native. However, Shelton is anyways a huge basketball lover and just because the playoffs are the biggest games of the season, the 21-year-old is hooked on to his screen for catching all the live action.
Ben Shelton Has Been Following the NBA Playoffs
Despite having a hectic schedule, playing two ATP Masters 1000 – the Madrid Open and the Italian Open – in the span of two weeks, Ben Shelton has also been constantly posting NBA-related content on his Instagram stories.
Ahead of the Madrid Open 2024 second-round encounter, he shared a clip of Anthony Edwards’ interview from the playoff.
Ben Shelton pic.twitter.com/6HEhn3LM9n
— Wide World of Tennis (@tennisfan_dkr) April 29, 2024
Additionally, Shelton also recognized the New York Knicks’ Josh Hart’s motivational words (as per Fox News) in one of his stories, talking about athletes getting fatigued.
Considering that Shelton has posted graphics of Kyrie Irving and Anthony Edwards on social media too in the past, it is safe to assume that the southpaw wants either of the two teams to win. With both teams leading their respective Western Conference Semifinal series 2-1, an exciting Western Conference Finals bout between the two is on the cards.
