American Tennis Superstar, Ben Shelton Falling in Love with Bayern Munich | OneFootball

Tennis World number 15, Ben Shelton made a winning start to his BMW Open debut in Munich on Monday but he still made time to visit Bayern Munich.

Munich is swapping grass for clay this week for the ATP 500 event and the American travelled to the Allianz Arena for his first Bundesliga experience as Bayern Munich hosted Borussia Dortmund in “Der Klassiker”.

Shelton watched an eventful 2-2 draw as Waldemar Anton scored a late equaliser for the visitors.

Speaking after his first round victory against Croatian, Gojo, Shelton was full of praise about his Bavarian football experience.

“It was my first professional football game in Europe, and the atmosphere was crazy!

“I was upset that it ended in a tie when Bayern was up 2-1. But I was happy to just be there, feel the energy.

“I think that those guys are so skilled, and I was really impressed with what I saw throughout the whole game. And I love the fan energy around football in Europe.

“One of the guys with Bayern said that since 2005, there hasn’t been a single game where they didn’t sell out. And I think that just speaks to how big this sport is globally, but especially here in Germany.”

It is the first time that Munich is staging an ATP 500 event, and Shelton has been impressed by what he’s seen.

“I think they’ve done a great job. I never would have known that this was a 250 before this year. I think it’s amazing what they’ve done selling out the stadium, packed crowd. The grounds are full every time walking through.

“There’s a lot of hype around this tournament, and it’s one of the things that I love playing in Europe, especially Germany, how much they care about tennis, how much they love coming out to the tennis.”

Ben Shelton is seeded second for the ATP 500 event, and will undoubtedly be wary of what he eats but döner kebab is still on the menu. “I’d love some recommendations! Our PR guy sent me a few schnitzel places to go to. I haven’t been leaving my hotel room much, but maybe later this week I’ll get out.”

Should Shelton progress through the tournament, he could stick around long enough for an 1860 Munich game vs Aachen on Saturday, but it seems like Shelton already has the Bayern Munich bug.

“Going to the Bayern game was more than enough stimulation for me for the week!”GGFN | Oscar O’Mara