Ben Shelton has been told there are two areas of his game that need to be improved for Wimbledon.
Shelton is considered one of the United States’ best hopes, with no American man having won a major since Andy Roddick’s 2003 US Open triumph. But he fell well short of that in Paris, bowing out in the second round – his earliest Grand Slam exit in three years.
Shelton hasn’t played much on grass, with just five main tour matches under his belt and only one win so far. Gilbert thinks there are a couple of things he needs to work on if he’s going to find success at Wimbledon.
Shelton will head into Wimbledon as the number 14 seed, though he hasn’t gone beyond the second round before. Last year, he reached that stage before losing in straight sets to Laslo Djere.
This year, though, expectations are higher. Many expect him not only to improve but also to make a deeper run this time around.
Gilbert explains how Shelton can sharpen his serve for Wimbledon
Speaking on The Big T Podcast, Gilbert named Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic and Taylor Fritz as his early favourites for this year’s title. When asked about Shelton, Gilbert said he considered including him in that group but couldn’t justify it based on his previous showings at the All England Club.
Shelton is known for having one of the better serves on the ATP Tour, but Gilbert wants the world number five to utilise this shot even more as well as highlighting his return as a weakness.
Shelton’s serve is often highlighted as one of the stronger aspects of his game, but Gilbert pointed out that there’s still room for improvement, especially when it comes to consistency.
“With Ben, so goes the return, so goes his game and I actually feel like he should do better on the grass,” Gilbert said. “But the return has been the thing to let him down and this is just me as a coach. I would like to see him drop 35 aces. He goes way too much to the kick, the slice.”
“If I’m over in the box, go drop more aces from that side,” he added. “And if he improves his return even a little bit there’s no reason why he can’t make a deep run. He could be seeded fourth at Wimbledon which would be huge. I’d have him down as a contender then but right now he’s just outside my top three.”
Brad Gilbert shares how Ben Shelton can sharpen his serve before Wimbledon
Speaking on The Big T Podcast, Gilbert named Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic and Taylor Fritz as his top three picks to win Wimbledon this year.
Shelton has one of the strongest serves on the ATP Tour, but Gilbert thinks he could be getting even more out of it. He also pointed to Shelton’s return game as an area that needs work. “I would love to put him on my list, but he has never made a deep run at Wimbledon,” Gilbert said about Shelton.
“With Ben, so goes the return, so goes his game and I actually feel like he should do better on the grass, but the return has been the thing to let him down and the thing that, this is just the coach in me. I would like to see him drop 35 aces. He goes way too much to the kick, the slice, the catcher.”
“If I’m over in the box, the number one side, go drop more aces,” he added. “But if he improves his return a little bit there’s no reason why he can’t make a deep run.
Shelton has played at Wimbledon three times already. In fact it’s actually statistically been one of his better Grand Slam tournaments. Only in Melbourne does he have a higher win percentage. Shelton reached last year’s quarter-finals before falling short against eventual winner Sinner.
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