Shelton\u2019s season began in Australia in January and has since moved through North America and Europe, while Washington\u2019s 30-game NWSL campaign runs from March to November alongside Rodman\u2019s international commitments with the United States.<\/p>\n
This summer alone, the Spirit travelled to Mexico for the Concacaf W Champions Cup before Rodman joined the USWNT for matches in Brazil and then returned to the domestic season. On Sunday, she was in Portland, Ore., setting up Washington\u2019s winning goal against the Thorns.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an important part of our relationship to be able to relate to each other through the different things we go through,\u201d Shelton told the ATP Tour. \u201cWhether it\u2019s media stuff, brand stuff, photoshoots, the pressures of competition and being professional athletes, it is very taxing.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome people can say that it\u2019s difficult to maintain a relationship where you have two professional athletes. But in my opinion, to have somebody who understands what you go through is very, very important.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/2025-07-07T224152Z_237865335_MT1USATODAY26601082_RTRMADP_3_TENNIS-WIMBLEDON-CHAMPIONSHIPS-scaled.jpg\")
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\n Trinity Rodman has sat alongside Ben Shelton\u2019s family, including his dad and coach Bryan Shelton, at Wimbledon and other major tennis tournaments. (Susan Mullane\/Imagn Images)<\/p>\n
Shelton said last year that Rodman had managed to follow him to Munich, Madrid, Paris, Wimbledon, Mallorca, Washington and Cincinnati, a list which has since extended to New York \u2014\u00a0but the time spent in each other\u2019s sporting worlds has also required some education.<\/p>\n
Rodman knew little about tennis before they started dating and much of what she knows now has been learned from Shelton\u2019s box, often alongside his father and coach, Bryan Shelton, who reached world No. 55 during his own professional playing career.<\/p>\n
\u201cI ask so many questions,\u201d Rodman said on Kelce\u2019s podcast. \u201cI didn\u2019t know anything and now when I\u2019m in the box with his dad, I\u2019m like: \u2018Hey, what\u2019s that? What happened?\u2019 So I would say I know a lot about it now. I know tendencies of certain players now. It\u2019s fun to be able to talk about it now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shelton has become invested enough in soccer for their conversations about Rodman\u2019s games to continue after the final whistle.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe didn\u2019t know a lot about soccer either,\u201d Rodman said. \u201cHe did enjoy watching it. He\u2019s very invested now. We have our little postgame debriefs on the games now. Sometimes I love it. Sometimes I hate it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some of that analysis has taken place in public. At Audi Field last September, Shelton watched Rodman score both goals in Washington\u2019s 2-0 victory over Seattle, her first brace since May 2024, when he picked up a microphone after the final whistle and asked her about her combination play with teammate Croix Bethune.<\/p>\n
Days earlier, Rodman had been sitting at the back of one of Shelton\u2019s U.S. Open press conferences, but her question was less forgiving: Why had he failed to serve faster than 135 mph?<\/p>\n
Trinity Rodman out here asking the tough questions of Ben Shelton \ud83d\ude05 pic.twitter.com\/GofD84LNXY<\/a><\/p>\n