Ben Shelton: Real thing or all hype?

Overall very good for tennis. Very explosive. Not afraid of the big stages or players. Huge charisma on the court, and you can tell he has shaken some of the big guys a little bit mentally by trolling them. He has a lot of belief.

He is probably further advanced than he should be given that he didn’t go pro as young as other players of a similar talent level have.

Already has a pretty good finals record where he has played to seed and won even against older and more experienced players.

The big thing I would love to see from Shelton now is a signature style win in a major against one of the big dogs and also to see how much he can weaponise his game on fast surfaces. Also see whether he has tools to win more efficiently. He has got a lot of athletic tools to work with so the temptation would also be there to max out physically but I have a feeling he is good enough to win more matches using less grinding and energy.

There are a lot of TTW posters whose opinion I regard very highly who are not Shelton fans, but I have to say I like his game and the positives he is bringing to tennis.
 
He’s the excitement tennis needs. He draws the crowd and gets them on his side because he’s a passionate gentleman. He’s a baller and the crowd resonates with him. He had the French audience cheering for him against a Frenchman, that’s impressive.
He’s a young man who is gradually getting better. He may have a slam in his future but he’s not quite there. I think he’ll be a menace on the 250, 500, and masters, though.
 
legit potential there. hype warranted imo. couple things about him:

the serve...has the serious heater (140+) of course but also a wide range of deliveries outside of that: great kicker, can do the can opener out wide... super live arm. one thing, though, currently he is not a particularly good 'spot server' nor does he bring the heater with regularity. maybe that's a shoulder preservation thing, not sure...but the net result is that he actually winds up hitting a lot of 3/4 speed spinnier 1st serves towards the middle of the box. still holds at a great %, but if he can improve his accuracy it would be a whole different ball game.

ground game...for a big server, he has developed surprisingly good rally tolerance. i remember watching goran and waiting for every 3rd groundstroke to sail 6 feet long (that role now played by shapo)...not an issue here, shelton can legit grind in rallies, very repeatable strokes (has kind of a 'hook-y' forehand, though, wish he caught it more out front less from the hip)...probably the least talked-about aspect of his game.

movement...honestly, pretty damn good. he's quick and athletic, plays some quality defense out there.

net game/hands...excellent. looks like a natural up there, almost throwback-era volley technique, has great touch and can improvise. true all-court player.

return...not amazing at the moment. area for improvement.

mental game...great. loves the spotlight, great competitor, stays positive.

overall...top 5 potential for sure. if he can hit his spots and get more returns in play, will be challenging for majors no question. very high ceiling.
 
mental midget said:
legit potential there. hype warranted imo. couple things about him:

the serve...has the serious heater (140+) of course but also a wide range of deliveries outside of that: great kicker, can do the can opener out wide... super live arm. one thing, though, currently he is not a particularly good 'spot server' nor does he bring the heater with regularity. maybe that's a shoulder preservation thing, not sure...but the net result is that he actually winds up hitting a lot of 3/4 speed spinnier 1st serves towards the middle of the box. still holds at a great %, but if he can improve his accuracy it would be a whole different ball game.

ground game...for a big server, he has developed surprisingly good rally tolerance. i remember watching goran and waiting for every 3rd groundstroke to sail 6 feet long (that role now played by shapo)...not an issue here, shelton can legit grind in rallies, very repeatable strokes (has kind of a 'hook-y' forehand, though, wish he caught it more out front less from the hip)...probably the least talked-about aspect of his game.

movement...honestly, pretty damn good. he's quick and athletic, plays some quality defense out there.

net game/hands...excellent. looks like a natural up there, almost throwback-era volley technique, has great touch and can improvise. true all-court player.

return...not amazing at the moment. area for improvement.

mental game...great. loves the spotlight, great competitor, stays positive.

overall...top 5 potential for sure. if he can hit his spots and get more returns in play, will be challenging for majors no question. very high ceiling.
Click to expand...
I have him down for 4-6 slams and have said that for a while
 
I cant see more weapons than his serve/physis and his mental strength. Sure, if he gets a good draw and the top players are injured, he somehow can stumble into a slam final, but he is already performing way above his skills. Very impressive for him to reach 14 with such a limited arsenal.
 
Return of serve is the biggest culprit imo, also not a fan of his FH. But the potentional is there for sure
 
it is quite contradicting but when he has great serves, he may not have the chance to develop his overall games
hence to a certain extent, his strength hampers his development
he needs a good coaching team indeed
 
It depends on the definition of hype. Number 1 ranked player and multiple grand slam winner? No. A consistent top 5 player that can win Masters and go deep in a few Slams. Yes.
 
TennisManiac said:
He needs to mature more to be anything worth talking about. But he has potential.
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i suppose you could say his college tennis-style enthusiasm is 'immature,' but honestly his game has matured a lot. like i mentioned in earlier post, he shows good patience in rallies and generally is making good decisions out there.
 
darthrafa said:
it is quite contradicting but when he has great serves, he may not have the chance to develop his overall games
hence to a certain extent, his strength hampers his development
he needs a good coaching team indeed
Click to expand...
i actually think the rest of his game is coming along nicely...and weirdly i think it's the serve that could improve quite a bit with better placement. s&v is a tough game to play these days but he's one of the few players i think has the game to lean into that more. he's got a nasty kicker w a ton of work on it, go straight into the body w that thing and he's got the athleticism to pay it off at net.
 
Honza said:
How?
He didnt show a sign of this so far.
Click to expand...
He has made a semis and quarterfinal in two slams already. That’s top 5. He’s just more inconsistent than he could be in his prime. Given he’s already borderline top 10. I can’t disagree that top 5 potential is there in a few years.
 
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nighthawkrr said:
He has made a semis and quarterfinal and two slams already. That’s top 5. He’s just more inconsistent than he could be in his prime. Given he’s already borderline top 10. I can’t disagree that top 5 potential is there in a few years.
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Ben shelton hasn't won a slam...
 
nighthawkrr said:
He has made a semis and quarterfinal and two slams already. That’s top 5. He’s just more inconsistent than he could be in his prime. Given he’s already borderline top 10. I can’t disagree that top 5 potential is there in a few years.
Click to expand...
He is 14 and thats borderline top 15.
And once last 4 and once last 8 in a slam is not consistent top 5.

In my opinion he overperformes, which speaks for him, but i dont see him being constantly top 5.
 
Honza said:
He is 14 and thats borderline top 15.
And once last 4 and once last 8 in a slam is not consistent top 5.

In my opinion he overperformes, which speaks for him, but i dont see him being constantly top 5.
Click to expand...
If you think someone making a slam semifinal in their rookie year doesn’t show top 5 potential then you are crazy. He’s barely been on tour a year.

DonutBoy1128 said:
You said in your post ben shelton's won 2 slams
Click to expand...
Nope seems like you failed reading comprehension too many donuts I suspect.
 
nighthawkrr said:
If you think someone making a slam semifinal in their rookie year doesn’t show top 5 potential then you are crazy. He’s barely been on tour a year.


Nope seems like you failed reading comprehension too many donuts I suspect.
Click to expand...
You edited your post didn't you... It said and two slams not in two slams
 
nighthawkrr said:
If you think someone making a slam semifinal in their rookie year doesn’t show top 5 potential then you are crazy. He’s barely been on tour a year.


Nope seems like you failed reading comprehension too many donuts I suspect.
Click to expand...

Consistent top 5 is so much more than a slam semi in the beginning.
 
mental midget said:
legit potential there. hype warranted imo. couple things about him:

the serve...has the serious heater (140+) of course but also a wide range of deliveries outside of that: great kicker, can do the can opener out wide... super live arm. one thing, though, currently he is not a particularly good 'spot server' nor does he bring the heater with regularity. maybe that's a shoulder preservation thing, not sure...but the net result is that he actually winds up hitting a lot of 3/4 speed spinnier 1st serves towards the middle of the box. still holds at a great %, but if he can improve his accuracy it would be a whole different ball game.

ground game...for a big server, he has developed surprisingly good rally tolerance. i remember watching goran and waiting for every 3rd groundstroke to sail 6 feet long (that role now played by shapo)...not an issue here, shelton can legit grind in rallies, very repeatable strokes (has kind of a 'hook-y' forehand, though, wish he caught it more out front less from the hip)...probably the least talked-about aspect of his game.

movement...honestly, pretty damn good. he's quick and athletic, plays some quality defense out there.

net game/hands...excellent. looks like a natural up there, almost throwback-era volley technique, has great touch and can improvise. true all-court player.

return...not amazing at the moment. area for improvement.

mental game...great. loves the spotlight, great competitor, stays positive.

overall...top 5 potential for sure. if he can hit his spots and get more returns in play, will be challenging for majors no question. very high ceiling.
Click to expand...
Raonic had the heater too, look where it got him. Most pros have next level hand eye coordination. The top 3 never had a problem with that serve. Unless he wins something in the next couple years maybe will have a Tsonga type career. I feel he is a bit heavy for tennis.
 
Hype.
But he's doing better than I thought he would after his USO run.
But hype until he wins 1000 or above and follows up with more titles.
 
tennis24x7 said:
Raonic had the heater too, look where it got him. Most pros have next level hand eye coordination. The top 3 never had a problem with that serve. Unless he wins something in the next couple years maybe will have a Tsonga type career. I feel he is a bit heavy for tennis.
Click to expand...
So in response to a poster claiming that Shelton had top 5 potential and could potentially contend for majors, you cited as a counter example Raonic, who reached number three and 10 slam quarters or better.

And then said you instead think Shelton’s career will only instead rise to the level of Tsonga, who…reached number five and made 15 slam quarters or better, both of these guys while having to play in the big 3 era?

You both might be speaking a similar language, perhaps.
 
Hype.

He’s a good player and is certainly dangerous on certain surfaces but that USO run put him higher than his level is. He is progressing and was doing so at a decent pace but the USO run made him overhyped and I think the Djokovic match showed where he really was which was a top 30/40 player who has improvements to be made
 
nighthawkrr said:
How is he hyped? Is he an exciting player to watch? Yes, but he’s not yet shown a top 5 level to me.
Click to expand...
There is a lot of hype I admit. He did get to the USO final last year. So, he has the potential to win a slam. He’s young so he will only get better. But, the verdict is still out on him. Top 5 is a possibility.
 
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