Ben Shelton is certainly stepping up in the right limelight! After struggling on clay for many years, the American is now battling his way through the fourth round of the French Open for the first time. He holds an 8-4 record on clay this year and stands 18-15 overall on the surface. But standing on the other side of the court is the defending champion, Carlos Alcaraz. It’s a tough moment for the young American to keep his place and make his mark on Parisian soil. Still, despite the stress of the match, Shelton knows how to keep cool and be a good sport!On Sunday, during his R4 match against the Spaniard, who holds a win-loss 17-1 record this season, Ben found himself in a tough position. During their first set, with the scoreline at 3-all, Alcaraz had an advantage to take the lead. But when Shelton’s serve was called “let” by the automated machine, Carlos wasn’t having any of it.The Spaniard returned the point, but the call went unnoticed by the chair umpire. This prompted a brief halt between the two. According to the Spanish ESPN X account, the moment showed Alcaraz calling the chair umpire out. However, Shelton stepped in and offered the Spaniard “if he wanted to replay the point.” The scoreline read 4-3, but what truly stood out was the Americans’ down-to-earth response to diffuse the situation.¿Shelton? Un tipazo. El umpire no notó el let y el estadounidense le preguntó a Alcaraz si quería repetir el punto. #RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/wcWVn21psD— ESPN Tenis (@ESPNtenis) June 1, 2025At the end of the set, they found themselves at a tiebreaker, which Carlos ended up winning 7-6(8). The match is still underway as both players look to seal their place in the quarterfinals of the tournament. It’s a big one for Ben Shelton, given it’ll be his first quarter’s appearance at Roland Garros.But it seems like he hopes to get there fair and square! So far, he’s doing an incredible job. After coming into the tournament with an intense battle against Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego that turned into a long five-set match that saw the 22-year-old walk away victorious (6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3) and then a straight set win against Matteo Gigante (6-3, 6-3, 6-4) Even Carlos believes so!The post Ben Shelton Risks It All With a Split-Second Twist Amid Carlos Alcaraz Showdown at the French Open appeared first on EssentiallySports.