Ben Shelton’s stuttering post-US Open form continued with a shock defeat to Jerome Kym at the Swiss Indoors and his defeat to the wildcard pushes him to the top of the list for lowest-ranked players to beat a top-10 opponent in 2026.

The American has played only two events since finishing runner-up to Alexander Zverev at Flushing Meadows in early September, as he lost in the third round of the Shanghai Masters and now in the second round in Basel.

After battling to a three-set win over compatriot and lucky loser Aleksandar Kovacevic on Tuesday, Shelton came up short against Kym as he went down 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-1) against the world No 222 with the match ending at 0:41 local time.

“[It was] really difficult. He is No 4 in the world,” Kym said after his first-ever top-10 win on the ATP Tour. “Just tried to play my best to get some chances to create something on the court. And I think I did very well.”

ATP News

For Shelton, it is his third loss against a player outside the top 100 this year with the defeat against the Swiss youngster the first time that a player outside the top 200 has recorded a win over a top-10 opponent.

Back in June, Shelton was sitting at No 5 in the ATP Rankings when he was stunned by qualifier and world No 140 Otto Virtanen in the first round at Wimbledon.

That came just over a month after the then world No 6 was beaten by another qualifier Nikoloz Basilashvili, who was at No 117 at the time, in the second round of the Italian Open.

The loss against Kym is top, the Virtanen defeat is third and the Basilashvili setback puts him also in fifth place.

Taylor Fritz and Alexander Bublik are the other top 10 players sandwiched between Shelton as the former – who was ranked No 8 at the time – lost against world No 148 Nishesh Basavareddy in the first round of the French Open.

He was topped until Shelton’s unwanted feat at the Swiss Indoors while Bublik – No 10 in the rankings – sits at No 4 after he lost against No 117 Rinky Hijikata in the third round of the Indian Wells Open in March.

Top 5 Lowest-Ranked Players To Beat A Top-10 Opponent In 2026

1. World No 222 Jerome Kym defeats Ben Shelton (No 4) – Basel
2. World No 148 Nishesh Basavareddy defeats Taylor Fritz (No 8) – French Open
3. World No 117 Otto Virtanen defeats Ben Shelton (No 5) – Wimbledon
4. World No 117 Rinky Hijikata defeats Alexander Bublik (No 10) – Indian Wells
5. World No 114 Nikoloz Basilashvili defeats Ben Shelton (No 6) – Italian Open