Nick Kyrgios reveals what he truly thinks about Ben Shelton & the player American reminds him of

Nick Kyrgios, set to face Ben Shelton at The Atlanta Cup exhibition event on Saturday, December 6, recently shared his honest thoughts on the 23-year-old American. Shelton enjoyed a stellar 2025 and broke into the ATP top 10 for the first time in his career. Kyrgios, whose tennis career is very likely on its last legs, had high praise for Shelton and also likened the American to himself.

Speaking to Sports Illustrated's Serve on SI, Nick Kyrgios called Shelton an "incredible player" and spoke highly about the American's maiden ATP top 10 rise in 2025, which included a semifinal finish at the Australian Open and a first-ever Masters 1000 title in Canada.

According to the former World No. 13, Ben Shelton's penchant for producing energetic and risky tennis reminds him of his own entertaining and often unpredictable on-court self. The Australian said:

"He's (Shelton's) an incredible player, and after the year he's had, and some of the energy that he brings, I see a lot of myself in his tennis, his risk-taking, and the way he interacts with the crowd as well."

The 2022 Wimbledon runner-up also expects The Atlanta Cup crowd to cheer vociferously for the Atlanta-born Shelton when they face each other in a few days.

"I'm definitely gonna feel some love there, but at the same time, you're talking about one of the best players in the world coming from Atlanta. So, I'm not gonna be too surprised when the crowd really embraces Ben," Kyrgios added.

Ben Shelton's 2025 season ended with chastening learning experience

Ben Shelton in action at the 2025 ATP Finals (Source: Getty)

Ben Shelton's consistency in 2025 yielded his maiden qualification for the year-end ATP Finals in Turin, Italy. However, the American's campaign at the prestigious year-end tournament featured three brutal defeats at the hands of Alexander Zverev, Felix Auger-Aliassime and eventual champion Jannik Sinner.

On the back of his exit from the event due to his three Round Robin phase losses, Shelton firmly stated that his current level is well below where it needs to be for him to have a solid chance of beating the world's best consistently. The American told reporters:

"Certainly eye-opening being able to play against some of the best players in the world, (realising) the things that I need to do better. I'm not the player that I want to be yet. Not close. There's so many things that I need to work on."

Shelton's ATP Finals campaign also led to him finishing the year as the World No. 9, four spots below his career-high ranking of No. 5.