The current no. 4 in the world is down-to-earth about the physical and mental battles during a stellar season.

Ben Shelton’s been on a whirlwind journey lately. Though the 23-year-old tennis player has been a rising star, his success at the recent U.S. Open saw him beat fellow American Frances Tiafoe in an historic semifinal before taking on Germany’s Alexander Zverev in the championship match.

Shelton ultimately finished as the men’s singles runner-up at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York, and then less than a week later faced another intense event at the Davis Cup in Europe—which is characteristic of the pace of professional tennis.

When The Healthy recently convened for a conversation with him, in partnership with Thorne supplements, Shelton opened up thoughtfully about staying resilient and keeping perspective in the face of career disappointment—especially when, at times, losing is inevitable and the mental conditioning is as critical as the physical.

The Healthy: Ben, congrats. You have come through an incredible summer. Can you talk about what the psychological journey has been?

Ben Shelton: Yeah. For me, it’s been a lot, I guess, mentally and physically. I think the hardest part is that the tour doesn’t stop. It’s not really like you finish the U.S. Open, you get to relax. I’ve got to prepare for the end of the year, the Asian swing, the Europe swing after that. I guess that’s kind of been the hardest part with dealing with everything.

The Healthy: What’s the focus both for your body and for your mind right now?

Ben Shelton: Straight after the U.S. Open, I went to Prague to play for Team USA against Czech Republic, and then I came back here. I was able to take a few days off and just hang out, do nothing. Now I get back into training, plenty of things to continue to work on, recover my body and get back into shape for this last push at the end of the year.

The Healthy: You have a partnership with Thorne. Do any of the products stand out to you?

Ben Shelton: Yeah, I mean, I’m pretty basic. The creatine is a staple for me, the magnesium glycinate for sleep, the daily electrolytes. I take the multivitamin to try to keep myself from getting sick. And the whey protein isolate after matches. I don’t take an absurd amount of supplements, but I found the concoction, I guess, that works the best for me, that my body feels the best, responds to well, [helps me feel] more clear in my mind, I think that’s a huge part of it.

The Healthy: Reflecting on the journey you’ve had even just in the last month: if you were talking with someone you know who’s not an athlete and you noticed that maybe they needed a little boost of resilience or some inspiration to try to stay encouraged, what’s something you might say to them?

Ben Shelton: I don’t know if I’m the wisest person or the best advice-giver, but I think that from my own perspective and the things that I’ve dealt with, we play a sport where you lose almost every week of the year. Unless you’re winning tournament after tournament, you’re losing. I’ve won a lot of titles this year. I’ve won four titles, but I’ve still lost 13, 14 times. So you’re losing a lot more than you’re winning at the end of the week. So I think that definitely builds up your resolve, your resiliency and your mentality. I think for me, we play such a physical and mental sport.

The Healthy: Totally.

Ben Shelton: One thing that I definitely struggle with is my body being able to hold up over the course of a long tournament. And for me, now that I’ve gotten really in tune with supplements, nutrition, Thorne has helped me a lot with that. I have noticed a big difference being able to compete at the highest level in the back-end of tournaments, being in sixth and seventh match in the semifinals and finals of the U.S. Open and still feeling good physically. That gives me a lot of encouragement and improvements that I’ve made and knowing that, OK, this is somewhere I failed in the past, but I’ve gotten past that now.