Ben Shelton is the 3rd Best Player

Razer said:
Ben Shelton is yet to turn 23 while Fritz will turn 28 soon, so it is not surprising that Shelton's best years are ahead of him while Fritz's might be behind him.
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Yes. But it’s not just age.

Shelton completely revamped his racquet setup. How much lead tape did you see before? That’s right zero.

Now the hoop of his Yonnie is dripping with lead. It’s taken him the last 6 months to get more accustomed to the heavyweight spec but now it’s paying dividends. His style is completely different than the hit-and-miss Shapo style of his earlier slam runs.

He is the fastest improving player in the Top 20.
 
travlerajm said:
I predict that a year from now, Shelton will be Top 3 and Fritz will no longer be Top 5.
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I assume your prediction is that Shelton will be #3. Anything more than that would be a bold prediction. By the way, per the question you raise at the beginning of this thread, Djokovic is still as likely to challenge Alcaraz as Shelton is, probably more. He's old and he can't/doesn't play much so the rankings won't and shouldn't reflect this, but Djokovic is still probably the third-favorite for most slams.

Edit: Ah, see @Hitman beat me to it, and you agree.
 
helterskelter said:
I assume your prediction is that Shelton will be #3. Anything more than that would be a bold prediction. By the way, per the question you raise at the beginning of this thread, Djokovic is still as likely to challenge Alcaraz as Shelton is, probably more. He's old and he can't/doesn't play much so the rankings won't and shouldn't reflect this, but Djokovic is still probably the third-favorite for most slams.

Edit: Ah, see @Hitman beat me to it, and you agree.
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Let’s let the US Open decide who is Mr #3 Right Now!
 
@travlerajm I deliberately said "to challenge Alcaraz" and not "to challenger Sinner," because there might be a case that Shelton can push Sinner as hard as Djokovic can. But even then, some of that is the tennis scoring system. Shelton took Sinner to 6-7 4-6 4-6 at Wimbledon and Djokovic only managed 3-6 3-6 4-6, so per the scoreline, Shelton did better. But that was about as one-sided a 6-7 4-6 4-6 as I've seen. Shelton won 11% of points on Sinner's first serve (6 of 56). The point tally was 106-81. Djokovic didn't do much worse in points (94-71). Shelton's first serve helped him apply scoreboard pressure, but he was never really that competitive.

travlerajm said:
Let’s let the US Open decide who is Mr #3 Right Now!
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Obviously, there is a good chance that Shelton will surpass Djokovic soon. I just think he hasn't done so yet. As for the US Open, it probably depends on how fast the courts are. Shelton looks like a player built mostly for fast hard courts. He didn't look anywhere near as good in D.C. as he has done in the past two matches. ADF beat him pretty easily. Perhaps his ceiling is now as high as Djokovic's, but his floor is still below it. He also played a stinker in Mallorca. Of course, given he plays twice as often as Djokovic, he's going to have much more variance in his performances. (This is Shelton's 17th tournament this year. Djokovic has played ten).
 
Right now, there's such a drop off between 2 and 3 (with Novak playing a reduced schedule), that Ben is making a case for it.
He appears to be on the ascent, and there are questions about all the players ranked ahead of him but Sinner and Alcaraz.
If I were projecting for 2026, I suppose Shelton would be as good a candidate for that #3 spot as anyone else...although it also wouldn't shock me if he finished out of the top 10.
 
That said, Shelton appears to be the 4th best player at the moment; trailing only DjokoSinnerAz. And even though it’s probably too early say; it’s still not that much of a stretch either.
 
travlerajm said:
Yes. But it’s not just age.

Shelton completely revamped his racquet setup. How much lead tape did you see before? That’s right zero.

Now the hoop of his Yonnie is dripping with lead. It’s taken him the last 6 months to get more accustomed to the heavyweight spec but now it’s paying dividends. His style is completely different than the hit-and-miss Shapo style of his earlier slam runs.

He is the fastest improving player in the Top 20.
Click to expand...
I was surprised to see him go through Fritz like that. You might be right.
 
travlerajm said:
Yes. But it’s not just age.

Shelton completely revamped his racquet setup. How much lead tape did you see before? That’s right zero.

Now the hoop of his Yonnie is dripping with lead. It’s taken him the last 6 months to get more accustomed to the heavyweight spec but now it’s paying dividends. His style is completely different than the hit-and-miss Shapo style of his earlier slam runs.

He is the fastest improving player in the Top 20.
Click to expand...
Hopefully you are right. But I still feel he is too heavy for tennis. His body will break down(unless he is the second Nadal). Well Platinum opportunity for Shelton to win his first Masters. Khachanov is not the player he was couple years ago. Let us he whether he can win.
 
travlerajm said:
Yes. But it’s not just age.

Shelton completely revamped his racquet setup. How much lead tape did you see before? That’s right zero.

Now the hoop of his Yonnie is dripping with lead. It’s taken him the last 6 months to get more accustomed to the heavyweight spec but now it’s paying dividends. His style is completely different than the hit-and-miss Shapo style of his earlier slam runs.

He is the fastest improving player in the Top 20.
Click to expand...

His father defeated @BorgTheGOAT's hero Richard Krajicek at Wimbledon, so definitely Ben's father coaching him is not gonna fail if his son has talent. We need to see how he progresses. I still feel he needs a coach who is a baseliner (Agassi can be a good choice) but then he seems to be improving a lot like you said and he did pick up a tennis racquet late in life compared to other kids of his age years ago, so his aptitude in tennis definitely is not bad. He could win the US open 1 day.
 
Tennis out of context:

GvA7RGCXEAAGCrn.jpg:large
 
Razer said:
His father defeated @BorgTheGOAT's hero Richard Krajicek at Wimbledon, so definitely Ben's father coaching him is not gonna fail if his son has talent. We need to see how he progresses. I still feel he needs a coach who is a baseliner (Agassi can be a good choice) but then he seems to be improving a lot like you said and he did pick up a tennis racquet late in life compared to other kids of his age years ago, so his aptitude in tennis definitely is not bad. He could win the US open 1 day.
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my hero?:unsure:
 
tennis24x7 said:
Hopefully you are right. But I still feel he is too heavy for tennis. His body will break down(unless he is the second Nadal). Well Platinum opportunity for Shelton to win his first Masters. Khachanov is not the player he was couple years ago. Let us he whether he can win.
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He is built like a 6’4” shooting guard. Can’t say the same about Fritz.
 
Razer said:
You said you were a fan of Krajicek, Pete and Becker... along with Borg.
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Jep that’s true those four and Rafter. But wouldn’t call them heros, I am a fan but no worshipper like others here. I admire Kraj’s peak level but he lacked consistency.
 
hoodjem said:
Where? When?
Now?

Does that tell us more about Shelton, or about the present crop of tennis players?
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My thoughts exactly. If Shelton, who wasnt even on his college main tennis team around 4 years ago or something, is one of the best players in the world, that tells us all about the current state of tennis level
 
travlerajm said:
Yes. But it’s not just age.

Shelton completely revamped his racquet setup. How much lead tape did you see before? That’s right zero.

Now the hoop of his Yonnie is dripping with lead. It’s taken him the last 6 months to get more accustomed to the heavyweight spec but now it’s paying dividends. His style is completely different than the hit-and-miss Shapo style of his earlier slam runs.

He is the fastest improving player in the Top 20.
Click to expand...
But still light years behind Sinneraz
 
travlerajm said:
any arguments?
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He currently sits fifth in the ATP Race, and if he wins the title, he would displace Djokovic from fourth place and be very close to third place, currently held by Zverev.
Shelton would, undoubtedly, be in the second group of candidates for the US Open behind Sinner and Alcaraz.
:cool:
 
Ben played very well against Fritz! Can he do that when all the top players join in? He has more potential than anyone, but will he realize his potential or will he become a version of Tiafoe / Kyrgios?
I can see this going either way, but he needs to be 100% focused and dedicated to closing the gap to Carlos and Yannick.

Magic 8-ball says .... yet to be determined!!
 
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