Australian Open – “A gift and a curse”: Ben Shelton's serve, strength and limit

But what's going on under that towel? In Melbourne, as in Flushing Meadows, Wimbledon or everywhere else, Ben Shelton has the habit of hiding under his towel at almost every change of sides. What is he thinking? Over the past year and a half, the kid from Gainesville has fallen into line a bit. After his semi-final full of promise during the 2023 edition of the US Open, he took a nosedive in the ATP rankings. Nothing dramatic, since he has continued to remain in the top 25, but let's say that Shelton went from 17th to 23rd place without any major breakthrough in 2024. As evidenced by his uneventful Grand Slam career where he only reached the second week before being sharply corrected by Jannik Sinner (6-2, 6-4, 7-6).

A course which reminds us that Shelton must provide variety. It is not enough to send missiles to the service to bring out the best players in the world. In the 1990s, the golden era of bombers, a big stake could open up infinite prospects even in a Grand Slam. Today, most players in the top 100 are capable of reaching 200 km/h on their serve and it is those who best know how to return the opponent's throw-in who dictate their law. Like Novak Djokovic, undisputed master of the discipline.

The muscular American realized this: “A lot of guys on the tour are pretty superhuman. I send services at 240 km/h but they send them back to me. They hit with a lot of quality and it comes back to my feet. So often, speed (of service) is not the solution“, he confided at the end of the year to a pool of American journalists including those from the New York Times and Tennis.com.

At the start of 2024, it was the tough Adrian Mannarino who got the better of his blocks in Melbourne in a number that made Shelton go crazy. In New York, it was Frances Tiafoe who derailed it in five sets: “Today was the best return of serve performance I have ever seen,” Shelton commented after his elimination. This was an epic fight, not just a 3rd round match.” Failures, among others, which pushed him to dig under his towel again to find solutions.

“You can get away with a lot through service, but when plan A doesn't work, it's easy to keep banging your head against the wall. This is what happened to me last year. I had difficult times. But with age, we learn to adapt“, he promises from the height of his 22 years. His career in Melbourne tends to prove that Shelton has taken lead in the head. Except that his statistics in return remain light years from the best.

Since the start of the tournament, he has capped at 31.5% of points won on the opponent's serve where the percentages of Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner climb respectively to 47%, 42% and 41%. “I knew that if I landed a high percentage of my first serves, I would be able to hold my serve fairly easily“, declared Nakashima without tongue in cheek after his defeat by a hair in the first round in Melbourne against him (7-6, 7-5, 7-5).

“It's both a gift and a curse for those who have been great servers from a young ageShelton further deciphered in the comments transcribed by the New York Times. We do things that others can't do but I also have the impression of having to catch up in some way. I think I'm doing a good job.“Shelton spent a good portion of the offseason working on his returns to “evolve” them to target his opponents’ lines or feet.”In 2023, I was at less than 10% of opposing services won, I am aiming for 15%.“

In Melbourne, it is 18%. So it seems that under his towel, Shelton found some of the answers. If he is still content to win less than a third of the points on opposing services, he enjoys remarkable success on break points (52%). “I'm just trying to put pressure on. For me, at that moment in the match, you shouldn't give away free points because you know that the player is feeling the pressurecommented the left-hander after his victory in the first round. I usually try to be a little more conservative at the start of the match in these moments, and once the moment comes, I trust myself and take my chances.”

A way to focus on the points that matter. Facing Gaël Monfils, it was edifying, especially during the tie-break of the third set. And against Lorenzo Sonego? To see the semi-finals, we will have to find solutions against the powerful Italian who has only dropped his serve twice in his last three matches. The challenge is great but will undoubtedly reveal a little more about Shelton's progress.