Shelton will never beat Sinner again

[Dominic & Andrey]

It is doubtful that Shelton's baseline game will improve much in the next few years, his serve is easily neutralized by Jannik, his groundstrokes, even his FH, don't seem to bother Italian much. Just feels like a pretty hopeless matchup for Big Ben.

I want to like Shelton, but he really has dismal shortcomings in his game for someone that highly ranked. And even his weapons fail to really hurt truly strong opponents.

Watching their match yesterday I really thought that it would take Sinner to play a legitimately awful match to even lose a set to Shelton again.

 

[DSH]

Shelton is the 'Russell Westbrook' of tennis: Pure brute force, 0 IQ.

 

[GRASScaraz]

It is doubtful that Shelton's baseline game will improve much in the next few years, his serve is easily neutralized by Jannik, his groundstrokes, even his FH, don't seem to bother Italian much. Just feels like a pretty hopeless matchup for Big Ben.

I want to like Shelton, but he really has dismal shortcomings in his game for someone that highly ranked. And even his weapons fail to really hurt truly strong opponents.

Watching their match yesterday I really thought that it would take Sinner to play a legitimately awful match to even lose a set to Shelton again.

Shelton is the Ivanisevic of this era but better on clay so Sinner should watch out at RG

 

[Angrybirdstar]

i do think it's interesting that for all of Shelton's variety on 1st serve, it doesn't really bother Sinner on 1st return as much as one would expect

 

[Jonas78]

Lets be honest, Shelton is a servebot, at least very close to it.

 

[TennisGrandpA]

Let’s be honest, Shelton is a servebot, at least very close to it.

Shelton should turn into a grinder , pusher type of player with a deadly serve . He can be a winning machine

 

[AntonZweck]

Shelton is gonna beat Alcaraz in their next outing.

 

[helterskelter]

Shelton is the Ivanisevic of this era but better on clay so Sinner should watch out at RG

The bolded part seems like a dubious claim to me. Ivanisevic made three QFs at RG, won three tour titles on clay, and made an MS final in both Rome and Hamburg (and a semi-final in Monte Carlo). If Shelton is better than Ivanisevic in any conditions, it's probably on outdoor hard courts.

If a player from continental Europe and a player from the USA have a somewhat similar game style, the European will usually be better on clay because they are more used to moving on clay.

 

[Hitman]

The bolded part seems like a dubious claim to me. Ivanisevic made three QFs at RG, won three tour titles on clay, and made an MS final in both Rome and Hamburg (and a semi-final in Monte Carlo). If Shelton is better than Ivanisevic in any conditions, it's probably on outdoor hard courts.

If a player from continental Europe and a player from the USA have a somewhat similar game style, the European will usually be better on clay because they are more used to moving on clay.

I was about to post this.

 

[helterskelter]

I was about to post this.

I guess I can see a possibility of Shelton ending up with a better career than Ivanisevic on outdoor hard. He already has an MS title there, which Ivanisevic never achieved, and two slams semis to Ivanisevic's one. I think he got a bit lucky that Sinner didn't play Canada this year, as that was a bizarre decision. (Alcaraz and Djokovic not playing made sense). But I don't think he's likely to end up better on clay, and I think he has almost no chance of ending up better on grass or indoors.

 

[Hitman]

I guess I can see a possibility of Shelton ending up with a better career than Ivanisevic on outdoor hard. He already has an MS title there, which Ivanisevic never achieved, and two slams semis to Ivanisevic's one. I think he got a bit lucky that Sinner didn't play Canada this year, as that was a bizarre decision. (Alcaraz and Djokovic not playing made sense). But I don't think he's likely to end up better on clay, and I think he has almost no chance of ending up better on grass or indoors.

I think Shelton will have a better career off natural surfaces. I think Shelton will win at least a slam on HC before his career is over. He is one of the best of the chasing pack right now.

 

[helterskelter]

I think Shelton will have a better career off natural surfaces. I think Shelton will win at least a slam on HC before his career is over. He is one of the best of the chasing pack right now.

Outdoors, probably. But not indoors. Ivanisevic had a great career indoors. And I think that the weaknesses in Shelton's return game that hold him back a little on grass could be a factor, to a lesser extent, indoors.

I'm not sure Shelton will win a slam, but I do agree he's dangerous on outdoor hard.

 

[Hitman]

Outdoors, probably. But not indoors. Ivanisevic had a great career indoors.

I'm not sure Shelton will win a slam, but I do agree he's dangerous on outdoor hard.

Yes, I meant outdoors.

 

[helterskelter]

Yes, I meant outdoors.

Changing subject, even though he lost this match, FAA reinforced my view that he might well be the strongest contender for losing finalist at the tour finals.

Downside is that he now needs to play Metz, so he might be tired in Turin.

Also, if it weren't for Dimitrov's injury at Wimbledon, Sinner could be one event (Indian Wells) away from completing hard-court tennis without having started clay- or grass-court tennis.

 

[Gazelle]

I'm surprised Shelton is even that high ranked. Masters title, slam semis...

That's a guy maximizing his talents, because he has great figthing spirit.

 

[Hitman]

Changing subject, even though he lost this match, FAA reinforced my view that he might well be the strongest contender for losing finalist at the tour finals.

Downside is that he now needs to play Metz, so he might be tired in Turin.

Also, if it weren't for Dimitrov's injury at Wimbledon, Sinner could be one event (Indian Wells) away from completing hard-court tennis without having started clay- or grass-court tennis.

I think FAA will be exhausted now, because he will need to play next week also.

 

[helterskelter]

I think FAA will be exhausted now, because he will need to play next week also.

Yeah, though he might get to withdraw early from Metz if one of two things happens:

1) Djokovic [or someone else] announces his withdrawal from Turin.
2) Musetti loses early in Athens. On indoor hard, I think it's conceivable that Van de Zandschulp has an outside chance in Musetti's first match.

 

[Hitman]

Yeah, though he might get to withdraw early from Metz if one of two things happens:

1) Djokovic [or someone else] announces his withdrawal from Turin.
2) Musetti loses early in Athens. On indoor hard, I think it's conceivable that Van de Zandschulp has an outside chance in Musetti's first match.

I do think Djokovic is withdrawing and I think that is what FAA is counting on now.

 

[helterskelter]

I do think Djokovic is withdrawing and I think that is what FAA is counting on now.

Musetti even more so! FAA will probably qualify even if Djokovic doesn't withdraw, though playing Metz would hamper his chances of going far in Turin, for sure.

 

[Hitman]

Musetti even more so! FAA will probably qualify even if Djokovic doesn't withdraw, though playing Metz would hamper his chances of going far in Turin, for sure.

They will both be in Turin. But Sinner will smoke them both.

 

[helterskelter]

They will both be in Turin. But Sinner will smoke them both.

Sinner will smoke everyone.

Everyone will smoke Musetti.

FAA will have a few competitive matches.

 

[big ted]

Shelton should turn into a grinder , pusher type of player with a deadly serve . He can be a winning machine

i agree he needs to hire roddick to change his forehand like he changed his later in his career

 

[Hamnavoe]

I'm surprised Shelton is even that high ranked. Masters title, slam semis...

That's a guy maximizing his talents, because he has great figthing spirit.

Agree with this. He's obviously a good player, but the degree to which his ranking overperforms is pretty remarkable. Just looking at Tennis Abstract, this year he's breaking at just over 17% (sixth worst in the top 50) and his game % is 22nd, yet he's fifth in the race with a possible look at top four if he has a good tour finals. When you watch him it's obvious he's got good attributes but also big limitations. The way he's often talked about, stuff like how he's got huge potential but needs to sort out his mentality, jars with this underlying picture.

What I think sets him apart relative to the gaggle of players around his level is his attitude. When you watch players in person, usually their demeanour is either pretty ambivalent or neurotic and tetchy. I was in the stadium last year for Shelton's Wimbledon match against Shapovalov and his attitude really stood out, particularly in comparison to his permanently raging opponent. He's constantly positive, constantly pumping himself up, and getting that energy back from his box too. While Shapovalov's form went up and down, Shelton kept a pretty steady course through the match and dug out a fifth set win.

In a world of players constantly beleaguered by self-doubt, Shelton elevates himself by comparison with his positivity. I think his attitude also explains his superior best-of-five record as opposed to best of three: over the long distance there's more time for the intrusive thoughts to creep in and cause your game to wobble. Shelton doesn't let that happen. When conversations about mental strength come up, a lot of focus is on the players with the talent who let weakness in big moments get them down - Shelton is a great example of the opposite, and that's to his enormous credit.

 

[Fabrivitx]

He needs first of all a better coach.