Ben Shelton is a tennis star — but he’s ‘not a robot.’ Why he loves naps, doing nothing and those little cookies they give you on the plane.

Ben Shelton doesn’t get much time off. The tennis star tells me the longest he’s gone without touching a tennis racket is 10 days, and he’s only had one six-week break between competitions since going pro in 2022. Of course, all that hard work has paid off — at 22, he’s already won two singles titles on the ATP Tour and reached two Grand Slam men’s semifinals.

But don’t let his intensity on the court fool you; Shelton prefers to keep things low-key. And when he does get a rare break, you’ll probably find him hanging out on his couch with friends. As he shares in our conversation for Yahoo Life’s OT Diaries, he’s happiest “pretty much doing absolutely nothing.”

That might not be what you’d expect to hear from someone currently ranked No. 13 in the world, but it makes sense for a young athlete playing the long game. And it’s not like he’s missing out on anything. “I feel like I do enough throughout the year, whether it’s seeing things, going to cool places, trying restaurants or being in different cities,” Shelton explains. “So the last thing I’m doing [when I’m off] is traveling. I try to leave the house as little as possible.”

For him, the secret to success is knowing when to slow down. Here, Shelton opens up about finding balance and normalcy in a high-speed sport.

There’s a lot of adrenaline that goes into your sport. How do you come down from that?

I like taking naps. I think that naps help a lot with mental relaxation and recovery. I’ll even take one before matches sometimes, but I think they’re great on off days.

Being able to kind of detach from the sport and not be thinking about tennis all the time is really important to me. [So is] being able to go out and do other things, or just be with people who aren’t tennis players.

Is there anything that you do to try to maintain a routine?

I’m probably not as precise as some professional athletes. I think I do a pretty good job of getting my sleep, getting rest and eating healthy.

But my life also has balance. I’m not a robot, so I’m not, like, going to sleep at 9 every night to wake up at 7. I’m a normal kid, so sometimes it’s 2 a.m. [that I’m going to sleep] and sometimes it’s midnight. Usually before a match, it’s a little bit earlier. But I like to think of myself as more of a normal person, and my routine isn’t quite so exact.

Do you think being young allows you to do that?

Yeah, maybe. Maybe it’s something I’ll have to adjust as I get older.

I’ve heard about guys who have gone their whole career being a bit more laid-back with their routine, and that’s worked for them. And some guys have had to make changes and sacrifices to keep it going. But everyone’s different; I’m just kind of going one day at a time and seeing what happens.

I assume your supplement regimen is something you keep up with since you’ve partnered with Thorne. What does that look like?

It’s not always exactly the same, but a few of my constants are creatine, beta-alanine and magnesium bisglycinate. Those three help with my performance and sleep, but also focus. So I think I’m hitting all the bases that I need with that group of supplements.

I’ve started taking the daily electrolytes — it definitely helps me to drink more water when I mix it with something that tastes good and is good for you. I love the watermelon flavor, so I’ve probably been drinking a little bit too much of that. … I don’t know if you can have too much.

I don’t measure my liquid intake or anything like that. I go more by feel, but I’m more specific with my routine on match day.

Are you a coffee drinker at all?

I’m not a “need caffeine to function” type of person, and a lot of days I won’t have it, but sometimes I’ll drink it in the morning. That’s usually for an earlier match day if I need to get the engine going a little bit earlier than I wanted to.

If you’re steering clear of the tennis court on your days off, what exercises are you doing instead?

I love playing basketball, pickup games or any other sports like throwing a football. I like being in the gym, although that’s technically part of my training.

It’s interesting because I was a kid who was very, very active and always doing things. So it’s kind of surprising to me that now that it’s my job to be active all the time, I find myself walking a little slower when I’m not training and doing a little bit less physical activity.

Your body definitely needs that break. Have you tried any recovery techniques that you swear by?

I think that cooling down and stretching is important, but I’m not somebody who’s like, “Oh, you have to do cupping … every day.” I think every situation requires something different, and I kind of go off of that rather than having one thing that I live by.

I have a physio who works on me pretty much at the end of every day and other people around me that I trust in those areas, recovery and fitness. I just listen to them.

I’ve always liked what I like. I trust what I like. I’m not always looking for the latest and greatest.

I love that you keep it real. Let’s finish off with some rapid-fire questions.

Do you prefer a home-cooked meal or takeout?

Home-cooked meal.

What are you snacking on when you’re traveling?

I try not to eat on planes that much. I’m usually just drinking water. But those Biscoff cookies that they give you on Delta flights … those are my all-time favorite.

If you had to choose one wellness treatment, what would it be?

I’m gonna go with an ice bath.

Binge-worthy TV show?

Entourage is my No. 1.

Most-used phone app?

I would say either FaceTime or Instagram.

And finally, favorite sweet treat?

I haven’t been eating desserts a lot lately, but I like ice cream a lot.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.