College players Ben Shelton, Peyton Stearns and J.J. Wolf have graduated to Roland Garros

Tennis Channel Live: When Ben Shelton turned pro

Winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture of 1951, An American in Paris is a musical, punctuated with the snappy dialogue pervasive in that genre. One such verbal rally came between the female and male protagonists.

“Paris has ways of making people forget,” says Frenchwoman Lise Bouvier.

American Jerry Mulligan disagrees. “Paris? Not this city. It’s too real and too beautiful to ever let you forget anything. It reaches in and opens you wide and—you stay that way.”

How will Lise and Jerry’s notions play out for a trio of Americans set to make their Roland Garros main draw debuts next week? Ben Shelton, J.J. Wolf and Peyton Stearns have each established themselves as Top 100 players. The 20-year-old Shelton is ranked 35th and is 4-2 at the majors, highlighted by a run to the quarterfinals at this year’s Australian Open. Wolf, 24, stands at No. 49 and has a 7-3 Slam record, losing in the round-of-16 of Melbourne to Shelton. Stearns, 21, is ranked 69th and has only played one prior Slam main-draw match, a loss at last year’s US Open.

Juxtapose a first trip to Roland Garros with the other three majors. The US Open is usually familiar for ambitious American tennis players. Even before competing there in the junior event, many made pilgrimages to Flushing Meadows and instantly felt comfortable at yet another sprawling hard court venue. Then comes the cathedral of Wimbledon, a fulfillment of any tennis player’s lifelong dream. Finally, the Australian Open, a long mid-winter’s trip to a friendly summer paradise.

But Roland Garros? “Americans play on cement and we tend to do better on faster surfaces than we do at the French Open,” says Eric Riley, a coach has worked with such pros as Pam Shriver and Lisa Raymond. “Moving on clay is difficult if you haven’t been raised on it.”

There’s also the matter of taking in cultural differences. “Playing overseas is always a little more difficult,” says Riley. “You have to be able to adapt. Not everything is in English. There are changes in currency, a different diet. And if you’re going into one place for the first time, you’ve got to learn where things are, from the player’s lounge to getting your credential, to knowing where the practice courts are.”

Shelton, Wolf, and Stearns are exemplary American hardcourt aggressors. Shelton has a high-energy, all-court lefty game. Wolf launches his attack behind a livewire serve and blistering groundstrokes. A massive forehand has been the cornerstone of Stearns’ success. Clay-court matches are won much more these days with racquet-head speed and offense than the bygone era of looping topspin and attrition. Still, all three Americans will have moments when they feel stymied and possibly even frustrated as they seek to navigate the grittier, slower surface. Says Riley, “You also can’t always create one-shot offense on clay.”

Rare among most Roland Garros newcomers, each of these three played college tennis. Shelton starred at the University of Florida and as a sophomore last year won the NCAA singles title while playing for his lifelong coach, his father Bryan. Wolf, who lettered at The Ohio State University for three years, recently said on ATPTour.com, “Having a great place to train and coaches to work with while getting a great education was huge for my development. Especially time management skills, balancing classes with sports.”

Stearns led the University of Texas to two straight NCAA championships in 2021 and ’22. Upon turning pro following that second victory, she said, “The team and staff helped me not only became a better player, but more importantly a better person off the court.” In March, Stearns was awarded the 2023 Universal Tennis Foundation Hurd Award, an honor given to an accomplished college player transitioning into the pro tour that also includes a $100,000 grant.

“Going to college, being away from home and playing collegiate tennis is a nice buffer and transition,” says Riley. “That’s different than going out at 17 and your life revolves around winning tennis matches. In college, you have teammates who are also working hard. It’s inspiring and not just you against the world. College players are also used to playing in a hostile environment, where people are clapping when you hit a fault.”

Another key factor is that all three come from families where sports played a central role. Bryan Shelton was an ATP pro, reaching a career high ranking of No. 55 in 1992. Said Ben earlier this year, “To be able to learn from him, with all the life experience he has, it wasn't just an easy street for him, so he knows all of the hardships and struggles of being out here, making it on tour, it's priceless to be able to have that knowledge and that person to go to.”

She was strong and I knew she wanted to hit the heck out of the ball. We wanted to make sure she got it right. Coach Mario Contardi, on Peyton Stearns' forehand

Shelton’s mother, Lisa, was also a ranked junior and the sister of another ATP pro, the late Todd Witsken. Wolf can count 26 relatives who played a sport at the collegiate or pro level, ranging from tennis to basketball, volleyball, soccer, boxing, and track & field. Stearns’ mother, Denise, was a member of the University of Texas gymnastics team.

“Peyton had also been a gymnast and had excellent balance and strength,” says Mario Contardi, director of tennis at the Cincinnati-based The Club Harper’s Point. Contardi coached Stearns from ages nine to 12. Contardi also recognized at this early stage that Stearns already had a formidable forehand, so the two put in significant time making it even better. “She was strong and I knew she wanted to hit the heck out of the ball,” he says. “We wanted to make sure she got it right.”

Extending the education aspect, when it comes to clay-court study, these three have each created a distinct curriculum on the path to Roland Garros.

Shelton, so new to big-time tennis that he’s now in Europe for the first time in his life, has gone all in on his general ed requirements. Starting with the ATP event in Estoril that began April 3, Shelton has played tournaments every week, a seven-tournament, five-country European adventure that includes the one that’s just started in Geneva (where he lost his opener on Sunday). Shelton’s match record: 3-7. That hardly matters; far more significant is the value Shelton’s investment will generate over the long-term.

Though Wolf’s previously been to Europe, this is his first spring competing extensively there on the road to Roland Garros. Wolf’s clay season began with a quarterfinal effort in Houston. In Europe, he lost in the first round of Madrid and won two matches in Rome. Wolf is also in the Geneva draw.

Stearns is circling Roland Garros with a three-continent swing. In early April, she was the runner-up at a WTA 250 event played in Bogota, Colombia. Later that month, in Charleston, South Carolina, Stearns reached the finals at an ITF $100,000 tournament. This week finds her just across the Mediterranean from France at the WTA 250 stop in Rabat, Morocco, where on Monday, Stearns won her first-round match in less than an hour.

What will be key? “Keep it simple,” says Jose Higueras, a former USTA coach who as a top ten pro excelled on clay and later coached Americans Michael Chang and Jim Courier to Roland Garros singles titles. “Let the surface help you. Try not to go against the surface. Without changing your game upside-down, be mindful of what the helps you with a good kick serve, drop shots, and defending more.”

Consider the final scene of An American Paris a musical parallel to tennis at Roland Garros: a 17-minute dream, highlighted by various dance sequences that, just like playing on clay, demanded patience and exquisite footwork. Soon enough, we shall see how well these three Americans dance across the clay, and what form their Paris dreams will take.