Shelton explains what the great fear of tennis players is currently

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Maduro, affable, and with a great sense of the responsibilities that come with being a professional tennis player. That's how Ben Shelton appeared in the mixed zone of the Mutua Madrid Open 2025 to address some of the hottest topics in the tennis world, such as the functioning of anti-doping controls, in front of the Puntodebreak microphones.

At just 22 years old, he is aware of the potential he holds and the excitement he has generated, yet he continues to enjoy playing tennis. In fact, Ben Shelton tackles this clay court tour with renewed energy, understanding that this phase of his career is ideal for learning, without a results-oriented view that generates stress. There are already other factors in a tennis player's life that cause stress, as he explained at the Mutua Madrid Open 2025 after defeating Navone, referring to the anti-doping system and its operation.

"It's very difficult to manage. We've always had the pressure of having to report our whereabouts at all times, but now there's much more," the American begins to explain. "I have an alarm on my phone set for 3:00 PM every day of the year to remind myself to check if I've updated my location at the established time for them to come for an anti-doping control. If they come and I'm not there, it's a sanction, and if I accumulate three, it's a two-year suspension. If they call you and you're not there, you have one hour to get there. It happened to me once and was very stressful, but luckily, I made it on time," he noted.

- Shelton acknowledges that tennis players experience stress due to all the contacts they can have, following what happened with Sinner and Swiatek.

What has changed the landscape the most is that any minimal contamination with a prohibited substance is considered doping, necessitating very clear explanations, as has been the case with Sinner and Swiatek. "Now, if someone shakes my hand or touches my shoulder to greet me, I already wonder if they might have some cream that could seep into my metabolism and test positive. It would be impossible to prove that, so we're all very careful with the contacts we maintain. The same goes for drinks and food; we have to be sure they haven't been altered in any way. It is truly insane, very stressful," commented a Ben Shelton who will face Jakub Mensik in the third round of the Mutua Madrid Open 2025.

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Shelton explica cuál es el gran miedo de los tenistas actualmente