Ben Shelton has the potential to be a BETTER player than Andrew Roddick

I think its unfair to Roddick when hes being compared to these kids. These kids today aren't playing the Big 3 or Fed at his absolute Peak on grass and hards.. Shelton hasn't won anything and there isn't anything even close to resembling a peak Fed around on tour. If Roddick was playing today I see no reason why he wouldn't win close to half a dozen wimbledons and a US Open or two. Fed destroyed his confidence which basically stopped him from potentially dominating wimbledon to a certain degree as he never would have changed his game to become a pusher. He would have stayed aggressive.

Swap Fed out at Wimbledon and give him Carlos. Roddick easily wins Wimbledon. Multiple times. Sorry. Swap Fed out and give Roddick Sinner. Roddick wins a few US Open titles. Probably wins an AO or two as well
 
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He lost 76, 76 to the 3rd best player in the world, I don't think that's a bad loss at all considering he's ranked 10th right now.
 
Kralingen said:
There I said it. I watched Roddick since the beginning and I’ve been watching Shelton for the last 4-5 years and I can tell you the American has a higher ceiling than the American. He's a very special talent. For starters, I think Shelton is a better baseliner and mentally stronger when compared to Roddick. Yes I’m aware of what happened in USO 2023 so don’t bother mentioning it, cause it happens, and I’ve seen enough of Shelton to know he’s one tough motherf*cker. Even Djokovic himself admitted the guy is tough as nails after struggling against him and copying his celebration after nearly losing a set.

I have no doubt he’ll achieve great things in the future; however, I don’t think he’ll have the same success Roddick had. Shelton’s generation is way more talented than Roddick’s generation so unfortunately for him, he won’t have Roddick’s luxury as the competition will be fierce. Federer, Hewitt and Baghadatis are really nothing compared to Medveved, Sinner, Zverev and Alcaraz. Besides, Shelton seems like a guy who has other interests in life than to keep hitting a ball until he’s 45 years old like Roddick. Anyways, that’s not the point.

The point is I believe The American Prometheus has what it takes to take Roddick’s game to the next level. He'll be performing and playing tennis at a higher level. That he’ll do should he put in the effort. His backhand and RoS still leave a lot to be desired and not at Andy’s level yet but he’ll get there. Roddick kept improving even in his 30s so Ben has a lot of time ahead of him to improve.

One more thing, I’m not sure of this but I can see him becoming even a more popular player than Roddick in the future. Two reasons, he’s better looking and more active in the social media, all what’s left is success which is coming his way soon!

#Your heard it here first.
Bump it in a few years.

Cheers
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Notice the absence of a citation of a great coaching figure or player to support your claim.
 
Shelton vs Schwartzman on grass courts:

Shelton
8-8, .500 overall
3-6, .333 vs top 100

Schwartzman
10-16, .385 overall
7-12, .368 vs top 100

Schwartzman has done slightly better against the top 100. But Shelton beats Schwartzman overall. I will give Shelton the close victory here over Schwartzman.

As for Roddick, he should be compared to Schwartzman first. I can’t call that one. I’d probably go with Schwartzman, due to evolution. But I need to break that down first.

Old man Michael Chang shredded peak Fed in straight sets in the year 2000 at Halle, Fed’s best tournament. Chang is close to Schwartzman’s height, but far less evolved. I’d put Roddick and Federer as equal players.

Schwartzman and especially Shelton are 3-4 levels better than Roddick or Federer ever were.
 
Shelton’s trash talk game is more evolved than Roddick. But Roddick still gets the nod on post-match interviews.
 
I still think Roddick was a better defender and mover.
Better serve.
Was more explosive through the court.

Sheldon doesn’t seem a fluid as Roddick with his movement.
 
Sudacafan said:
If Nalbandian hadn’t been robbed in the USO 2003 semis, Roddick wouldn’t be there, too.
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Are you talking about the third set or the fifth? Because while it's indeed likely that the backhand Nalbandian hit out BP down to give Roddick the decisive break in the *fifth was actually in, when the majority of folks seem to think of Nalbandian getting hosed they bring up the third set breaker and the infamous out call from the crowd and quite frankly - no. Nalbandian struck a forehand that looked close to the line and a loudmouth called 'out' when Roddick was winding up to hit a shot that was A: on his weaker wing and B: on a pressure point that, if he lost, would have given his opponent another match point. Roddick did what he was supposed to do and stayed focused; Nalbandian did not do the same and indignantly played the crowd card after he netted his forehand even though the call from the crowd should have hurt his opponent more.

EDIT: *And IMO even had that point had gone Nalbandian's way the writing was already on the wall. Roddick had locked in, Nalbandian was fighting an injury and even before that critical call he was acting like he was being home-courted.
 
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FD3S said:
Are you talking about the third set or the fifth? Because while it's indeed likely that the backhand Nalbandian hit out BP down to give Roddick the decisive break in the *fifth was actually in, when the majority of folks seem to think of Nalbandian getting hosed they bring up the third set breaker and the infamous out call from the crowd and quite frankly - no. Nalbandian struck a forehand that looked close to the line and a loudmouth called 'out' when Roddick was winding up to hit a shot that was A: on his weaker wing and B: on a pressure point that, if he lost, would have given his opponent another match point. Roddick did what he was supposed to do and stayed focused; Nalbandian did not do the same and indignantly played the crowd card after he netted his forehand even though the call from the crowd should have hurt his opponent more.

EDIT: *And IMO even had that point had gone Nalbandian's way the writing was already on the wall. Roddick had locked in, Nalbandian was fighting an injury and even before that critical call he was acting like he was being home-courted.
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Yeah, Roddick fully deserves the USO. He struggled with the pressure in the SF and was a bit unlucky to be down 0-2 in the first place IIRC. But in the end he raised his game and while Nalbandian admittedly wilted that's the way it goes sometimes. Roddick was basically flawless throughout the tournament otherwise and played one of the better finals we've seen this century IMO.
 
NatF said:
Yeah, Roddick fully deserves the USO. He struggled with the pressure in the SF and was a bit unlucky to be down 0-2 in the first place IIRC. But in the end he raised his game and while Nalbandian admittedly wilted that's the way it goes sometimes. Roddick was basically flawless throughout the tournament otherwise and played one of the better finals we've seen this century IMO.
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He played a great final. Not only was he serving and hitting his FH great, his relative weaknesses in his backhand and net play weren't weak at all that day.
 
Shelton first off need a REAL coach that knows how to improve ur weapons and put gameplan at work, but i dont think Shelton tennis iq is higher enough to be a Roddick calibre player
 
Shelton will go nowhere if he doesn't fix his mindset. Confidence, and even a little bit of arrogance, is a good thing for a player, but he loses way too many points because he either doesn't try hard enough or he thinks he's won the point only for his opponent to return his shot. The potential is absolutely there, but he needs someone to rework his mental game and start playing with more hustle.
 
Like I have said before his father is the wrong influence on him. He, needs someone to calm him down and play smart rather than trying to outhit the opponent. You can't outhit today's generation of players. Even a 140 mph serve will come back.
 
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