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Ben Shelton made more than just headlines with his tennis at Wimbledon; he also made a heartfelt public request on court, asking for his sister to get some extra time off work so she could stay and support him. And it paid off.
After securing a spot in the fourth round to face Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego on Monday, Shelton addressed the crowd in an on-court interview, thanking the people who had been by his side throughout the tournament. Among them were his sister, Emma, and his girlfriend, U.S. women’s national soccer star Trinity Rodman.
“I’ve been playing well this week. It’s not just been me here. I have a great team. My parents are here. My girlfriend’s here. Also, my sister’s here. She’s been here for every match that I’ve played this tournament so far. She’s been the lucky charm,” said Shelton, the 22-year-old American seeded 10th, who has already reached two Grand Slam semifinals in his career. “But she has work back in the U.S., starting on Monday. She works for Morgan Stanley.”
The crowd responded with a chorus of boos at the mention of her job, while Emma buried her face in her hands.
“If any of you all have some (connections) and get her a couple extra days off so she can (stay and) we can keep this rolling,” Shelton added following his straight-sets victory — 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-2 — over Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics on Saturday, “that’d be great.”
Not long after, the power of a public plea became clear. Emma posted a short video on Instagram capturing the moment Ben asked her off-camera, “You got the week off or what?” She responded by jumping with joy, arms in the air and a huge smile on her face, while Ben added, “Shoutout, Morgan Stanley.”
Her caption: “thank you MS” followed by three blue heart emojis and the words “return flight: cancelled.”
Shelton, who has not dropped a single set so far at Wimbledon, previously defeated Sonego in the Australian Open quarterfinals earlier this year.