Ben Shelton Powers Thorne's New Performance Product Line

Interview with American tennis star Ben Shelton about his new partnership with Thorne.

Ben Shelton drinking Thorne's Daily Electrolytes. / Thorne

The only thing more powerful than Ben Shelton's left-handed serve is his presence in the sports world. The 22-year-old carries himself with a cool confidence reminiscent of the American tennis greats that came before him.

Given Shelton's focus on training and his rapidly growing fanbase of young sports fans, it makes perfect sense that he teams up with the leading health and wellness company Thorne.

Thorne has announced Shelton as the face of the brand's Sports Performance campaign, highlighting its new suite of on-the-go sports performance products showcasing its new Daily Electrolytes.

To kick off the new campaign, Sports Illustrated's Serve On SI spoke with Shelton about his partnership with Thorne, goals for the 2025 ATP season, and more.

Ben Shelton on-set with Thorne during their Sports Performance campaign shoot. / Thorne

What made you want to partner with Thorne on the new Daily Electrolytes line?

For me, a big thing was just authenticity of the partnership. Even before the daily electrolytes, I had always used other products in their line, and when I tried it, I really liked it.

I felt like it had not just the good taste but also the good qualities of an electrolyte drink that actually works and does something and doesn't just taste like juice.

I've loved meeting the Thorne team and being able to work with them. They've been pretty great in terms of company-athlete partnership or relationship, and it's been a lot of fun. So I hope that it's not our last.

How cool is it personally to be the face of this campaign?

It's really cool. Obviously, I'm young, my career hasn't been long, and there haven't been many campaigns where I was the face.

So the fact that such a big company, a well-known company, and a company that I already used before, I knew that they knew of me, kind of chose me to be that person was special.

It was really cool for me to hear when my agents first brought it to me, and I was just kind of surprised because this is a company that I use every day and a company that I trust because of how they test their products in a crazy world that we live in. That made me really, really excited.

Have you noticed any difference this season in the role Thorne has played in your performance and recovery?

Yeah, I've always been, since I turned pro, a Thorne user. I think the daily electrolytes definitely help me replenish. I'd say more quickly than the other electrolytes that I was using before. I feel pretty good.  

Do you have any favorite flavors of the products?

I like the watermelon the best on the electrolyes, for sure.

Ben Shelton using Thorne's Daily Electrolytes. / Thorne

Are there any secrets to balancing matches, training, and travel?

Yeah, for me, it's really important that I know myself. I know what makes me play the best. Chasing money and chasing points around the world is not going to get me personally where I want to be.

So, I got to know when I need to take three or four days off and when I need to not go to a tournament and spend some days at home with my family or friends, and I'm different than most.

You know, I haven't been the kid who's been used to traveling his whole life, and I think ideally, for me, I'm playing even less tournaments than I'm playing right now, and everyone's just kind of got to find their place where they're comfortable, and I'm starting to learn that for sure.

How do you grade your season so far?

I have no complaint. It's not perfect, but it's the best that I've ever started a season. So, I just want to see the improvements in each quarter of the year. The first quarter did I do better than I did last year? Yes.

And now we're looking in the second quarter, which is the clay court swing, and I want to see if I can continue that momentum and continue to make improvements because you're not just going to have consistent results and consistent success right away without putting in the work and putting in the time and learning how to play on different surfaces and improving parts of of your game.

So, I'm just trying to make small improvements each year. So, I was happy with my quarter one because compared to last year, I did make a lot of those little improvements I needed to.

Ben Shelton with Thorne's Daily Electrolytes. / Thorne

What are your goals for the rest of the season?

I want to do better than I did last year and just continue to push for more each quarter, try to become more and more consistent, and put good weeks together rather than having a good week and then having a bunch of average ones. I want to be able to build on top of good weeks, and that's when you really get to success.

Are there any specific tournaments you have circled on your calendar?

The Slams, of course. I think that Wimbledon is one that I really, really want to do well. Two that I want to do really well is the Rome, Madrid, back-to-back Masters 1000s. Those are tournaments that I haven't played great in.

You know, probably the only two Masters 1000s I haven't had at least one good tournament. I want to push deeper for sure. I think that a lot of things in my game that suit me well for those tournaments. And so those are kind of a couple in the short term that I'm really looking forward to.

Can you give us any hints at your future on-court kits for On? 

Yeah, I definitely can't be exact, but I think later this year, the vibe will change, for sure. I think that there will be some surprises in terms of the kits later in the year. And other than that, I just have to wait and see. Sorry, I got my mouth shut.

Ben Shelton and Thorne during their Sports Performance campaign production shoot. / Thorne

What is your hottest sports take at the moment?

Ooh, hottest sports take at the moment is the Florida Gators are going to win the NCAA championship, they're going to win it all. (Editor's Note: Florida won the championship a few weeks later).

Last question: If you were in a Space Jam scenario, defending Earth against aliens, who would you pick as your doubles partner?

Space Jam scenario playing against aliens, I'm gonna take Anthony Edwards.

Oh, okay, basketball. What about tennis, though?

Okay, I thought we were talking non-tennis, other sports (laughs) If we're talking tennis, gosh, someone clutch playing against aliens, we need a superhuman. I'm going to take Carlos Alcaraz.

Ben Shelton's Performance Product Picks

• Daily Electrolytes (Watermelon, Blood Orange, Mango Limeade) - stick packs.
• Creatine – stick packs.
• Magnesium Bisglycinate – stick packs.
• Amino Complex (Berry and Lemon) – sachets.
• Whey Protein Isolate (Chocolate and Vanilla) – sachets.

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Alexander Zverev on Monte Carlo loss: "No idea what's happening to me."

(Interview) Madison Keys discusses her partnership with Thorne.