Two Florida Gators alumni will compete in the 139th edition of the Wimbledon Championships in London starting on Monday. Ben Shelton, who attended UF from 2020-22 and is the ATP’s 5th-ranked player, is participating in the singles bracket, while Diego Hidalgo, who played in Gainesville from 2013-16, is competing in doubles.
Men’s singles competition opens on Monday, June 29, while doubles get underway on Wednesday, July 1.
Shelton is making his fourth career Wimbledon appearance — this time as a No. 4 seed — and brings an 8-3 career record at the All England Club into play. The Gainesville, Florida, native made it to the Wimbledon quarterfinals last summer and has won at least one match in all three prior appearances at the tournament from 2023-25, advancing deeper in each successive time.
The former Gator will face Finland’s Otto Virtanen, who is ranked No. 140 in the world and is unseeded in the event, in the first round on Tuesday, June 30, at 7:10 a.m. ET on Court 2. Shelton has amassed a 25-10 singles record in 2026, highlighted by a trio of titles at the Boss Open, BMW Open and Nexo Dallas Open.
Hidalgo is making his third doubles appearance at Wimbledon and first since 2024, when he played alongside Chilean Alejandro Tabilo and was defeated in the Round of 64. The Guayaquil, Ecuador, native produced his best finish with a spot in the Round of 32 alongside Colombian Cristian Rodríguez in 2022.
The Ecuadorian is partnered with the Czech Republic’s Matej Vocel and will take on the No. 11-seeded team of Francisco Cabral and Lucas Miedler of Portugal and Austria, respectively, in the first round of this year’s Wimbledon Championships.
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Pair of Florida alumni to compete in the Wimbledon Championships
Reporting by Adam Dubbin, Gators Wire / Gators Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Adam Dubbin, Gators Wire | USA TODAY Network
