By Sam Crenshaw, Special to Tennis Panorama News

(July 26, 2022) ATLANTA, GA – Youth was served on day 2 of the Atlanta Open , as 2022 NCAA Singles Champion Ben Shelton, scored a 6-2, 7-5 over Ramkumar Ramanathan of India in his ATP Tour Debut .

Shelton, who was born in Atlanta, when his father Florida Men’s Coach Bryan Shelton was the women’s Coach at Georgia Tech, received a wild card into the ATP 250 main draw. “It’s really special,” says Shelton.

“I lived here the first ten years of my life. My dad was coaching at Georgia Tech which is a couple blocks away from here. It’s special for me and it’s definitely a fun moment.”

Shelton dished out ten aces on his way to a victory on a hot Georgia afternoon. He is still enrolled at Florida, but a win in his ATP debut brought the obvious question. “I’m not sure”, says Shelton. “I will definitely be talking it over during the summer with my parents, my team and we will make a decision based on where my development is , and what would be best for me , not just on the court but off the court as well. There are no real results or rankings that will sway my decision either way.”

Shelton added that he is set to play in the Chicago Challenger and the U S Open but other possible tournaments are still up in the air. The 19-year-old Shelton is sure of one thing… his first round victory has propelled him into a second round match with 6-time Atlanta Champion and former Georgia All American John Isner . So it will be Georgia vs Florida, in the ATP’s version of The Border War, in Midtown Atlanta Tomorrow night.

Sam Crenshaw is an Emmy-winning sports reporter who is the founder of PeachtreeSports.com. Follow him on twitter at @Samcsamcrenshaw23,