Andy Roddick Urges Fans to Cut Ben Shelton Some Slack to Rescue Him From Skyrocketing Expectations

Andy Roddick was the last American men’s tennis player to win a Grand Slam title. Who’ll be the next player to follow in his footsteps? Will it be Ben Shelton? Well, American tennis fans have high hopes for this young lad. Last year, he became the youngest American tennis player to reach the last four of the US Open since Andy Roddick in 2003. This year, he became the youngest champion at the ATP Houston tournament since 19-year-old Roddick in 2002. Expectations surrounding the 21-year-old ‘Big Ben‘ are bound to happen, right?

But Andy Roddick asks fans to put a check in the expectation bar. He believes the youngster is still at an early phase of his development and he’s still learning. Ben Shelton is all set to start his campaign at the Italian Open against Russia’s Pavel Kotov in just a few hours from now. During a conversation at the Tennis Channel Live Podcast, Roddick was asked what would make this a successful singles event if he were Ben Shelton. “Winning matches, right? On a surface that maybe you’re not fluent yet. We forget the guy was in school until recently, 18 months ago.“

The former world number one doesn’t want any unnecessary expectations to hamper Shelton’s own game. But he’s quite confident about his potential to become one of the best American tennis stars. Roddick went on to add, “Listen, he’s still finding his pacing. Obviously, played well in Houston, won a match in Madrid. Needs to get through matches against players ranked lower than him.” He highlighted that although Ben Shelton is probably a bit more comfortable on the clay at the moment. But still, there is a lot of room for improvement.

Andy Roddick has always been that silent admirer of Ben Shelton’s energy on the court. He loves the way Shelton uses his massive serve, and big body and brings in a different level of athleticism to the game. For Shelton, he strongly believes, “Tide is turning, and it’s turning fast.” Roddick even put Shelton’s name in predicting who would be the best-placed American tennis star to qualify for this year’s ATP Finals.

However, not only Andy Roddick, the ‘Big Ben‘ has drawn in quite a lot of praise in the past as well from a former professional American legendary tennis player.

“He’s going to reach the pinnacle” – Jimmy Connors on the rapid rise of Ben Shelton

The 71-year-old American tennis legend believes that Ben Shelton has all the tools required to become a force to be reckoned with in the tennis world. Previously during an interview, Connors stated, “I think the next couple of months on clay, whatever it does for him, it’s got to get him in good shape. That’s one thing for sure.“

He further went on to add, “If he can get in there and get stuck in. Play some matches and have some success, as he had shown in Houston, but then going to the grass. I think these next couple of months, he’s going to reach the pinnacle if he looks after himself and his game.” Ben Shelton currently has a win-loss record of 16-8 this season. He is placed at the 14th spot in the men’s singles ranking. Can he improve his numbers further this season?