The Ben Commandments: Ben "10-is" Shelton is writing his own rules

Aabye5

Aabye5

Talk Tennis Guru
Young Big Ben Shelton blazing a path to glory on the Challenger circuit reaching a final last week Rome, GA, and now has a chance to reach his second in as many weeks in Indianapolis. The Florida Gator is 19, and looks ready to snap up some titles very soon. Keep your eyes peeled for this dangerous floater in next week's Atlanta draw.

aaadfee7-821c-4687-bb93-bedd03a17433-GTY_1242125261.jpg
 
Last edited:
Last edited:
Young Shelton is carving up The Srshs protégé Ram Ram 6-2 2-1 (up a break) but his service games in the second set have both featured BPs he defended.

Winner plays Big John on Wednesday evening.

Good prep for his USO main draw match(es) earned by winning the NCAA title.
 
stringertom said:
Young Shelton is carving up The Srshs protégé Ram Ram 6-2 2-1 (up a break) but his service games in the second set have both featured BPs he defended.

Winner plays Big John on Wednesday evening.

Good prep for his USO main draw match(es) earned by winning the NCAA title.
Click to expand...

We will get the Big John - Big Ben matchup, that proves 'Big' is relative.
 
The Big John - Big Ben matchup lived up to its promise, with Shelton was keeping pace with the big server at certain points. It was also a sign of big things to come for the youngster, who just picked up his first top 5 win yesterday, with his defeat of Casper Ruud.
 
Shelton just absolutely murders those 2-handed backhands. Also love that he's plays with the godly VCP 97HD; a but surprising that stick doesn't have more tour presence.
 
I really hope to God he wins something big, atleast it validates the US collegiate scene which I feel is no good when it comes to the Pros.
 
tennis24x7 said:
I really hope to God he wins something big, atleast it validates the US collegiate scene which I feel is no good when it comes to the Pros.
Click to expand...
His opponent tonight is TCU alum Cam Norrie, who is top 10, made a slam SF and won something big at IW’20. The Real Skam is guaranteed two QFists with NCAA experience and an all-NCAA final (Isner vs this h2h winner) is still possible.
 
stringertom said:
His opponent tonight is TCU alum Cam Norrie, who is top 10, made a slam SF and won something big at IW’20. The Real Skam is guaranteed two QFists with NCAA experience and an all-NCAA final (Isner vs this h2h winner) is still possible.
Click to expand...
True because any player worth his salt is either injured or taking a break. Fed, Rafa, Djokovic, Berretini, Wavrinka, Murray, Zverev all injured. Cam got to SF only because Medvedev was not allowed to play. Berretini and Zverev were injured.
 
Shelton is in Medvedev's section of the draw, and he plays a qualifier in the first round, and possibly Basilashvili in the second round.

Reaching the third round and setting up a potential match against Medvedev would be a great run for the youngster.
 
Aabye5 said:
Shelton is in Medvedev's section of the draw, and he plays a qualifier in the first round, and possibly Basilashvili in the second round.

Reaching the third round and setting up a potential match against Medvedev would be a great run for the youngster.
Click to expand...

Even beating the qualifier and losing to Basilashvili would be a good showing.
 
bluetrain4 said:
Even beating the qualifier and losing to Basilashvili would be a good showing.
Click to expand...

Basilashvili is seeded, so a loss would still be good run. But getting that second win could be a fast track to the next tier of events, and would be a great run for the youngster.

Granted, I am not expecting him to win...
 
bluetrain4 said:
Even beating the qualifier and losing to Basilashvili would be a good showing.
Click to expand...
Basil is being quite Fawlty recently. He has lost four straight matches since Wimbledon, all in straight sets with four bakery products and a retirement before a bagel was fully baked. His seeding is extremely deceptive.
 
It’s an all-SEC 1R matchup now and Ben must bear down to beat Portuguese-born Mississippi State grad Nuno Borges. More cowbell!

Impressive factoid: only Pete Maravich (LSU basketball) and Herschel Walker (Georgia football) were 3x SEC Players Of The Year for decades. Borges joined that pair after the 2019 season.
 
I'm watching this match now, quite good, both players are really giving it their all.

Shelton's forehand reminds me of Rafa's sometimes. His backhand can be lethal, almost doesn't seem possible how he can generate that much power with seemingly so little effort.
 
The power of Ben 10-is has been contained in New York. Pushing the match to 5 was a great start, but what will he take away from this loss?

He falls to Nuno Borges, a qualifier, in 5 tough sets, but in spite of his impressive serve, he lost 2 of 3 tiebreaks.
 
The " Steady as she goes " , " Old School style " of Djoke and Andy Murry is " eclipsed " by " the new style" first strike power tennis....
jennifer-lawrence-thumbs-up.gif
 
Picmun said:
The " Steady as she goes " , " Old School style " of Djoke and Andy Murry is " eclipsed " by " the new style" first strike power tennis....
Click to expand...

One puts out your hip, the other is gonna put out your... shoulder?

Journalese to contrast this as old/new however it's not far off - big serve is back, finish the point asap.

Ben has been somewhat attuned to uber-fast indoor and challenger courts...
 
Ben Tennis puts Paul in his place. Next up, Rinky or Francis. Who will give Ben the bigger test?
 
Aabye5 said:
Young Big Ben Shelton blazing a path to glory on the Challenger circuit reaching a final last week Rome, GA, and now has a chance to reach his second in as many weeks in Indianapolis. The Florida Gator is 19, and looks ready to snap up some titles very soon. Keep your eyes peeled for this dangerous floater in next week's Atlanta draw.

aaadfee7-821c-4687-bb93-bedd03a17433-GTY_1242125261.jpg
Click to expand...
The US Open is coming home.
:D
 
Ben Shelton in 4 sets over Frances Tiafoe. Doesn't matter who is the highest ranked American, Shelton is the last Yank standing on the men's side.
 
gqnelly said:
Ben celebrates way too much. Don’t disrespect your opponent, Ben. I love your game … ease up with the showboating bicep pose “let’s go” antics.
Click to expand...

There’s a fine line between the endearing “man he’s just enjoying himself so much out there” and preening that veers into disrespecting the opponent territory. Ben is on the wrong side of that line too often. Seems like a genuinely good kid but I’d like to see him reel some of that in just a bit.
 
Don Felder said:
There’s a fine line between the endearing “man he’s just enjoying himself so much out there” and preening that veers into disrespecting the opponent territory. Ben is on the wrong side of that line too often. Seems like a genuinely good kid but I’d like to see him reel some of that in just a bit.
Click to expand...

It's great. In your face, but not aggressive like Zverev or Medvedev. He's playing joyfully, much like Carlitos. A change from the staid professionalism of Roger, perhaps, but it's good to see in younger players.
 
Ben went fishing, but got caught. Three straight sets and Novak hangs up the phone on the youngster.

But what a tournament! A first round exit in 2022 to a semifinal in 2023. Not a bad fortnight.
 
Don Felder said:
There’s a fine line between the endearing “man he’s just enjoying himself so much out there” and preening that veers into disrespecting the opponent territory. Ben is on the wrong side of that line too often. Seems like a genuinely good kid but I’d like to see him reel some of that in just a bit.
Click to expand...
Not some, all of it. Win something of value first then try these antics. Just because he is born with a silver spoon doesn't mean he needs to disrespect Tiafoe especially after saying he is his brother.
 
Aabye5 said:
Post from a few days ago in The Guardian:

www.theguardian.com

Ben Shelton: US Open’s viral problem child takes call for mission impossible

Armed with a booming serve as prodigious as his sense of entitlement, the 20-year-old upstart is out to buck the odds in the US Open semi-finals
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
Click to expand...
Highlight of this is:

“Bro,” Shelton smirked, “I’m talkin’ scared of me. Like, genuine, Roger [Federer] in his prime. … I wanna be one of those guys where you’re scared of the type of animal they are.”

Cringe.
 

Ben Shelton Enters The Top 20

https://www.atptour.com/en/rankings/singles That means there are three 20-year-olds in the top 20 (#2 Alcaraz, #4 Rune, #19 Shelton) and 4 Americans in the top 20 (#8 Fritz, #11 Tiafoe, #13 Paul, #19 Shelton). I still have some doubts about Shelton when it comes to returning and consistency...
tt.tennis-warehouse.com tt.tennis-warehouse.com
 
BeatlesFan said:
Highlight of this is:

“Bro,” Shelton smirked, “I’m talkin’ scared of me. Like, genuine, Roger [Federer] in his prime. … I wanna be one of those guys where you’re scared of the type of animal they are.”

Cringe.
Click to expand...
Shelton sounds rather like a moron. Imagine when he's on the downside of his little tennis career. I remember Querrey making
similar noises when he was coming up, to no avail. Clueless..
 
Repost:

Mainad said:
In winning 2023 Tokyo, Shelton becomes:

1. The 6th player to win his maiden ATP title this season (after Griekspoor, Wu, Fils, Eubanks, Cachin).
2. The 1st player to win his maiden title at ATP500 level since Musetti (2022 Hamburg).
3. The 2nd consecutive American player to win in Tokyo after Fritz (2022) and the 1st since Sampras followed Courier (1996).
4. The youngest player to win in Tokyo since Hewitt (2001).
5. Part of the 4th father-son duo to win ATP titles in the Open Era (father Brian Shelton won back to back titles in Newport 1991-2).
Click to expand...
 
Overall aggressive game is really gelling. It's not that he doesn't rally or that he doesn't play defense, but he really looks to take that first opportunity to be on the offensive. And anyone who can win serve games at love and 15 - due to opponents not being able to make any quality returns because of placement and pace, not simply because they're not great returners - well, obviously, that's a huge upside. Not Sampras or Ivanesevic level (yet?) but it's something he can do at times.

Seems to be getting used to tour-level hitting by his opponents and thus there's just a larger overall level of comfort. Big question for me still is backhand return on the deuce court.

I'm not trying to overhype. It's one tournament. There will still be ups and downs and poorly played matches. But it's been an incredible trajectory, even with the totally meh period between the AO and the USO. Will be interesting to see how he keeps developing generally and against the very top players.
 
bluetrain4 said:
I'm trying to think of the other three father-son duos off the top of my head and am coming up blank.

If I remember correctly, Ruud's father never won a tournament. So, Petr and Seb Korda is all that immediately comes to mind.
Click to expand...

Phil and Taylor Dent are another pair.

Not sure if Fred and Sandon Stolle count. Unlike his dad, Sandon didn't win any singles titles but was a multiple doubles champion like his dad.
 
Last edited:
Honestly, this kid is becoming scary good. Reminds me of Kyrgios with the big serve and big forehand combo (also just the way he hits his forehand). Such easy power but accuracy as well. Add to that a very solid backhand and athleticism. Why should he not win multiple slams?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top