Ben Shelton’s extraordinary year continues, Naomi Osaka reflects on parenting, and more

It’s hard to fully capture Ben Shelton‘s incredible, meteoric year in words.

Playing in his first full season on the ATP Tour, the 21-year-old former NCAA champion opened 2023 by reaching the quarterfinals at the Australian Open during his first trip outside of the United States. In September, he reached the semifinals at the US Open and became a household name thanks to his fearless play and his immediately viral phone celebration.

Earlier this month, he reached the first Masters 1000-level quarterfinals of his career in Shanghai.

And Sunday, he won the first — of likely many — titles of his career with a 7-5, 6-1 victory over Aslan Karatsev in the 84-minute Japan Open final in Tokyo. Shelton seemed overjoyed as he celebrated with his dad, Bryan, who is also his coach and a fellow champion on the ATP Tour. The two became the fourth father-son duo to win tour-level singles titles in the Open Era.

Ben’s maiden moment 🌟#KinoshitaGroupJapanOpen pic.twitter.com/5gymkARnmt

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) October 22, 2023

“That meant a lot to me and my team,” Shelton said after the match. “We have been working really hard since the beginning to build my game and win titles on the ATP Tour. I made some deep runs lately.

“You see the great champions, they finish weeks off. They win titles, they don’t just get to finals. They are able to maintain their level throughout the week. I am not saying I am anywhere there yet, but to be able to do it for one week, put together five matches in a row in Tokyo is really special.”

Shelton entered 2023 at No. 96 — and is now at No. 15. With Taylor Fritz (No. 9), Tommy Paul (No. 12) and Frances Tiafoe (No. 14) ranked ahead of him, there are now four American men inside the top 15 for the first time since 1997 — five years before Shelton was born.

And Shelton is not yet done for the season. In fact, Shelton told ATPTour.com he was planning on celebrating the milestone win with a cheeseburger before packing and getting on his next flight, as he’s scheduled to open play at the Vienna Open — some 5,600 miles from Tokyo — on Tuesday in a doubles match alongside Dan Evans against Paul and Cameron Norrie. He will then face Jannik Sinner in singles Wednesday. A title in Vienna would propel Shelton right outside the top 10, but no matter what happens in Austria or the rest of the season, he is clearly thrilled about everything he’s already done in 2023.

“I have surpassed my expectations for…