“Why is Ben Shelton in this conversation?”

Ben Shilton was recently touted as a potential men’s singles champion at the upcoming 2026 Australian Open alongside favorites Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. However, this angered many tennis fans, who questioned why Shelton was considered a contender for the Melbourne Grand Slam, where Sinner was a two-time champion.

On Monday, November 24, the official Australian Open account The post containing the article link was commented on:

“Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, or…Ben Shilton on the #AO2026 trophy?”

Unsurprisingly, it didn’t take long for tennis fans to mock the article and comment on the post. According to most, Ben Shilton still has a long way to go before he matches Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner in terms of amazing consistency of performance. Some have even suggested that other ATP stars have a better chance of success at the 2026 Australian Open than the American.

One fan asked: “Why is Shelton in this conversation?”

“Slam champion conversation and you snuck up on Shelton,” one wrote.

Another commented: “Jaume Munar is more likely to win than Shelton!”

“Shelton? Even Rublev has more chances than him,” commented another fan.

“Oh? Third suggestion on the damn point,” someone added sarcastically, referring to Shelton.

“Shelton isn’t there yet, so I don’t think he’ll win it. I’m very hopeful that Alcaraz wins his first Australian Open, but if I had to make a prediction, I’d probably give the edge to Sinner. But I hope Alcaraz. Vamos, Carlos!”, commented another fan.

Interestingly, Ben Shelton has a better record than Carlos Alcaraz at the Australian Open

Although fans’ generally negative sentiment regarding Shelton as a potential 2026 Australian Open men’s singles champion has been discussed, it should be noted that the American performed better than defending champion No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz at the Melbourne Major.

Although the Spaniard has won the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open titles twice so far, he has yet to shine in Australia. Reaching the quarter-finals in 2024, and then again this year, are his best results at the prestigious hardcourt tournament.

Meanwhile, Shelton impressively reached the quarterfinals in 2023, the year he made his Australian Open debut. Earlier this year, he reached the quarterfinals, but here, he was knocked out by eventual champion Jannik Sinner.