Ben Shelton, after advice from John Isner & Reilly Opelka, names big area he wants to improve in 2025
World No. 21 Ben Shelton this week spoke about a weakness he would work to improve on in 2025. The Amercian, known for his big serves, received advice this year from fellow Americans John Isner and Reilly Opelka on his return of serve.
Shelton produced decent results on the court in 2024, winning the ATP 250 trophy in Houston and reaching the third round of every Grand Slam tournament at the minimum, going as far as the fourth round at Wimbledon. However, the American didn't improve or fare equally well as he did the season before. In 2023, he reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open and the semifinals of the US Open and won the Japan Open trophy. He started 2024 as the World No. 17 but now sits outside the Top 20.
The big-serving southpaw has thus identified an area of improvement, which was interestingly highlighted by John Isner and Reilly Opelka. The two told him that a break of serve percentage between 5-7 percent classified a player as a "servebot." Speaking to reporters, Shelton said (via tennis.com),
"I was under 10 percent in 2023, and am at 15 percent this year. I'd like to get that number higher."
Known for his fiery serves, the 22-year-old understands that speed doesn't matter without accuracy. He said that though his serves clock up close to 148m/h, opponents are able to return them with quality and accuracy.
Ben Shelton: "When Plan A isn't working, it's easy to just keep pounding your head against the wall"
In the same conversation, Ben Shelton dived further into the tactics of relying on his serve, suggesting the weapon is great when effective but has sometimes pushed him to try too hard.
"It's just being competitive. I don't let myself go away. You can get away with a lot, but when Plan A isn't working, it's easy to just keep pounding your head against the wall. I had some of that last year. I had some rough patches. But as you mature you learn to adjust, how to turn a bad day into a gritty win."
Ben Shelton will start his 2025 season at ASB Classic, the ATP 250 event in New Zealand, to prepare for the Australian Open, where he couldn't move past the third round in 2024. The American fell to Adrian Mannarino, losing a five-setter to the Frenchman 7-6(4), 1-6, 6-7(2), 6-3, 6-4.