Tennis star Ben Shelton hard launched his relationship with soccer player Trinity Rodman, but he’s still interested in keeping some parts of his dating life private.
In an exclusive interview with Us Weekly, Shelton, 22, explained why he didn’t think there were any double dates for Shelton and Rodman, 22, and tennis star Coco Gauff and her rumored boyfriend, Jalen Sera, in the near future.
“Not the biggest double date guy, to be honest,” said Shelton, while discussing his partnership with Thorne’s Sports Performance campaign. “More of a normal date guy. But I guess we’ll see. Definitely have a lot of friends who are in long-term relationships, but for it to match up where we’re all in the same place at the same time is unlikely.”
After Shelton and Rodman, who plays for the United States women’s national team and the Washington Spirit of the National Women’s Soccer League, went public with their relationship in March, Shelton admitted he wasn’t quite prepared for the response.
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“I was sure some people would talk about it, but I didn’t think it would be a break the Internet type of thing,” Shelton told Us. “But I’ve always been like, ‘OK, if I have a serious girlfriend then posting about it on Instagram isn’t that crazy.”
Shelton explained making the revelation was a big weight off his shoulders because it put rumors and speculation about his dating life to bed.
“I feel like for the past 6 months, whenever I would get seen with somebody, people would think we were dating,” he said. “It’s like, no, we’re just friends. Or if I’d hang out in a group of three and it was a guy and a girl, they’d cut the guy out and make it seem like I was on a date. It’s either gonna be I post about my girlfriend or they post about assuming who my girlfriend is.”
During an on-court interview at the Australian Open in January, Shelton was forced to shoot down dating rumors about him and Gauff, 21, after the pair were seen at an escape room together. Shelton explained fellow American tennis player Chris Eubanks was with them, too, but was cropped out of photos.
Given the busy schedules that both he and Rodman have, Shelton admitted making their relationship work “isn’t the easiest.”
“You gotta make sacrifices sometimes,” Shelton noted. “It’s just the life that we live. The lives that we live right now and for the foreseeable future. I think that you have to have two selfless people in a situation like this, and I think we have that.”
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With a busy tennis schedule ahead of Shelton, the 2025 Australian Open semi finalist has Thorne’s new on-the-go daily electrolyte packs to keep him going.
“It’s been great for me because I already used the product,” Shelton said of the partnership. “It wasn’t something where they were like, ‘Hey, let’s do a deal. Let’s make it look like you use the product.’ No, I use it day-to-day. I had already asked my agent to get connected with them because I was buying so much of it.”
Shelton added, “It’s safe. You gotta be careful with the supplements and everything you take these days. Guys are getting popped and testing positive for [a small] amount of something. With Thorne, that’s not something I have to worry about.”
