Ben Shelton Goes Straight From US Open Final to Davis Cup and Laver Cup

Ben Shelton will have little time to recover from his run to the US Open final, with the American immediately turning his attention to the Davis Cup before joining Team World at the Laver Cup in London next weekend.

Shelton lost to Germany’s Alexander Zverev in his first Grand Slam final on Sunday but climbed to a career-high No. 4 in the ATP rankings on Monday. He was subsequently confirmed in the US Davis Cup squad for its qualifying tie against the Czech Republic in Prague this week.

The United States will face the Czechs on Friday and Saturday in a best-of-five series on an indoor hard court at the O2 Arena. The winning team will advance to the Davis Cup Finals in Bologna, Italy, in November.

Shelton will make his second Davis Cup appearance and his first since the 2024 finals. He will be joined by Learner Tien, Martin Damm, Christian Harrison and Austin Krajicek. Tien and Damm have received their first Davis Cup nominations, after impressive US Open campaigns.

The 20-year-old Tien reached the fourth round in New York, while 22-year-old Damm pushed eventual semifinalist Frances Tiafoe to five sets in the opening round. Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul withdrew from the US squad.

Shelton’s busy schedule will continue immediately after the Davis Cup, when he joins Team World for the Laver Cup in London. Zverev faces a similar workload, representing Germany against Croatia in the Davis Cup before joining Team Europe at the Laver Cup.

Other Davis Cup ties this weekend include South Korea versus India, Chile versus Spain, Britain versus Ecuador, Austria versus Belgium and Canada versus France. Fifty-two nations are competing across the various levels of the Davis Cup.

Among the other prominent players in action are Alex de Minaur, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Casper Ruud. Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka, who plans to retire at the end of the year, will make his final Davis Cup appearance against Brazil.