Ben Shelton made a splash at the Australian Open by reaching his first semi-final, but his journey came to a crashing halt against defending champion Jannik Sinner. In a fierce battle lasting two hours and 36 minutes, he fought hard but ultimately lost 7-6 (2), 6-2, 6-2, pushing Sinner into his second consecutive final. Despite the defeat, Shelton showcased a level of tennis that left many buzzing, including Andy Roddick, who believes that moving forward, Shelton needs to play his cards right to capitalize on his potential.

For a solid 71 minutes, fans felt like they were witnessing a heavyweight battle, with Shelton matching the world’s No. 1 blow for blow—flat shots with flatter ones, spins with slices, and power with power. The first set was a nail-biter, showcasing Shelton’s talent as he fought hard to keep his title bid alive. But ultimately he fell short, racking up 55 unforced errors that massively undermined his otherwise incredible performance.

Speaking on the ‘Served’ podcast on Friday following the match, Andy noted a big change that Shelton should make in order to take down a riot like Sinner. He observed, “He wasn’t going to come out and have a neutral stat line and be able to beat Jannik Sinner. He wasn’t going to be able to come out and have 15 winners and 20 errors. He had to play irresponsibly.” And looking at the game, his words do hold weight.

In the match, Shelton kicked things off strong, breaking early for a 2-0 lead. But Sinner quickly leveled it up at 2-2, despite looking a bit shaky on the court. He broke the Italian again in the 11th game and had two set points on his serve to take the first set. Just when it seemed like he was about to seal the deal, Sinner broke back and absolutely dominated the tie-break. What Roddick pointed out, could be avoided with one key element: “For me, it’s as if we don’t talk about Ben’s serve because it is so dynamic and it is so effective. He’s lefty, he can tip the radar gun at 150. He has all the spins, he can kick, he can slice. He just needs to land the fastball more often.”

Interestingly, before the semi-finals, Shelton himself was not entirely satisfied with his serve against Lorenzo Sonego, despite hitting the joint-fastest serve of 232 km/h. With 56 aces and a 79% first-serve percentage, he’s behind Sinner’s numbers at 82%. Andy Roddick highlighted that for Shelton to elevate his game, he needs to master landing a flat serve on the ad side at 137 mph, noting, “There’s no such thing as a totally flat serve; you always have to have some spin on it.”

Hopefully mastering this aspect will make his already potent game even more formidable. But Shelton isn’t too bogged down by it. Sure, he would have loved to make it to the finals, but keeping a positive mindset, he’s aiming to improve his game before he tries again at Melbourne.

Ben Shelton is aiming for more aces going ahead

After his semi-final loss to the World No.1, Ben Shelton kept things upbeat in the post-match press conference, despite the disappointment. When asked about his level and what he needs to do to improve, he said with confidence, “Yeah, I know I’m close. I know my level’s close. I know I have a lot of the stuff that I need. I certainly believe in myself.” Shelton knows that getting more reps against top players and playing consistently will be key for him this year.

Looking back on his serving struggles during the match, Shelton took it all in stride. He said, “Not having a good serving day or serving week and having a great tournament is a huge positive for me.” It’s clear he sees this as a chance to learn and grow. With a grin, he added, “Next time I’m out there with set points, I’m going to hit the ace!” That kind of determination is what makes him such an exciting player to watch.

Shelton is part of a fresh wave of American tennis talent alongside Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz, and they’re all about bringing the U.S. back to the top of the tennis world. While he didn’t snag the title this time—missing out on joining the ATP Top 10 for the first time since April 2006 with three Americans—his semi-final run means he’ll rise to world No. 14 when the rankings are revised. That’s another big step forward in his journey. How far do you think this young gun will go this season?