American tennis player Ben Shelton took to social media to share sad personal news.

Shelton’s paternal grandmother, Regina Ann Shelton, passed away on March 27 at the age of 90. She was laid to rest in Alabama on Monday, April 27.

His Instagram post was filled with pictures from his childhood until recently. He said that she is the reason he is playing tennis and closed his post by calling her “Granddear.”

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On his way to winning February’s Dallas Open, Shelton spoke about his grandmother after a tough match against Adrian Mannarino.

He said: “I knew it was going to be a battle. And as I said in my interview before this one, it is for my grandmother. She’s been fighting hard. I was trying to fight hard out here on the court as well.”

The loss hits extra hard for the tight-knit Shelton family as Ben is coached by his father Bryan. The pair have been traveling, playing, and being extremely professional in the toughest of times.

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Shelton won the doubles title with his college compatriot Andres Andrade at the US Men’s Clay Court Championship on April 5, and he backed that up with a big win at the BMW Open on April 19.

Behind the scenes, we envision that Shelton has credited and honored his grandma with those wins.

Shelton will soon return to Europe to prepare for the Italian Open beginning next week.