Shelton Delivering Damage with Softer Touch

By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Thursday, August 29, 2024
Photo credit: Mike Lawrence/US Open/USTA

NEW YORK—Demolition expert Ben Shelton is dispensing damage with gentler touch at this US Open.

A year ago, Shelton served with the force of a man trying to bring down the back wall in his inspired run to the US Open semifinals.

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Tennis’ lefty master blaster rocketed a pair of 149 mph missiles twice in the same game during his 2023 US Open fourth-round conquest of compatriot Tommy Paul.

Immediately afterward, Shelton said bringing that sort of severe heat can bring burning consequences.

“I think [it was] straight adrenaline,” Shelton said. “Any other atmosphere, I don’t think I could get it done. I think my arm might fall off.”

This year, Shelton has intentionally toned down the volume of his screaming serve. The results have still been profound.

Shelton has scored straight-sets win over 2020 US Open champion Dominic Thiem and former Wimbledon semifinalist Roberto Bautista Agut. In those six sets, Shelton has surrendered just nine points on his first serve—and saved all three break points he faced.

Still, Shelton rocked the radar gun at 141 mph closing the curtain on Bautista Agut.

The 13th-seeded Shelton said he’s found his rhythm serving smarter instead of trying to muscle the ball faster.

“When I say I’m a little bit more of an intelligent player, I think I’m getting through my service games this year without having to light up the radar gun to do it,” Shelton said. “Everyone in the crowd is screaming 150, 145, 150, but I found a really good groove maxing out at 134, 135 miles an hour.”

Clock management is pain management for Shelton, who says serving in the mid 130s is kinder and softer on his serving shoulder then unleashing screaming 148 mph missiles that electrified Arthur Ashe Stadium last year.

The 21-year-old Shelton is hoping toning down the pace a bit will save his arm strength for a second-week run.

“It sounds funny, but if I can stay a little bit lower at, like, 135 [mph], I don’t really have the shoulder soreness or pain after matches that I certainly had last year,” Shelton said. “I think it’s really important because it was something that was coming up for me when I got to the second week of slams that my arm was pretty tired, but I’ve gotten a little bit better at hitting spots.

“If I hit a spot at 135 or I hit it anywhere in the box at 147, it’s often the same result. So I think that my serving style is a little bit different this year than last year.”

The Floridian not only bruised the back wall in Arthur Ashe Stadium, he turned athlete into audience: Tommy Paul stood and applauded along with the other 24,000-plus fans packed into Ashe Stadium after Shelton launched a pair of 149 mph missiles—the fastest serves of the tournament—in the fifth game of the third set of that 2023 fourth-round match.

It’s not just pure pace that makes Shelton’s serve so tough to read.

The left-hander can curl the lethal slice serve wide on the ad side, kick in the shoulder-high bounding serve or bring straight volatile gas down the T.

The combination of Shelton’s skill striking the entire serve spectrum—combined with his recognition to play first-strike tennis with his forehand—can disarm even elite opponents.

“He’s got a super jumpy serve. He was going after his second serves really aggressive today, which wasn’t fun,” Paul said. “He gave me, like, no rhythm the whole match. You know, the normal stuff when you’re playing a guy who is a server — or, I mean, he’s not just a server. He can obviously run down a lot of balls.”

Shelton will need to vary his serve—and sometimes bring the heat down the T—in his third-round showdown vs. buddy Frances Tiafoe. That rematch of a historic 2023 US Open quarterfinal—the first time two black American men met in the US Open quarters—will send the winner into the fourth round against defending champion Novak Djokovic or Montreal champion Alexei Popyrin, who beat Shelton 6-4, 7-6(4) en route to his biggest career title at the Canadian Open earlier this month.

Location can be more problematic than pure pace on the Flushing Meadows hard courts.

It’s worth noting Hall of Famer Pete Sampras, who seldom served over 130 mph but is still regarded as one of the game’s greatest serves, holds the US Open Open Era record for most aces in a tournament with 144 aces in winning his farewell tournament at the 2002 US Open.

In fact, Sampras’ 141 aces hit at the 1995 US Open is the second highest ace total in Flushing Meadows history.