Indian Wells 2024: Ben Shelton’s Attempt to Emulate Roger Federer Goes Horribly Wrong at Eisenhower Cup

Roger Federer is a pioneer in tennis. The Swiss Maestro has come up with many moves and strategies that many players use today to win points. One of his most prominent moves was the SABR, ‘Sneak Attack by Roger’, where he would move up to receive the second serve earlier. Ben Shelton aimed to recreate the move recently but failed horribly. 

While Shelton failed to pull off the attack this time, he managed to achieve success to a certain level in a tournament earlier this year. However, at the moment, nothing seems to go right for the young ATP star. 

Ben Shelton launches the ball in an attempt to recreate Roger Federer’s signature move

The 20-time grand slam champion created the SABR in 2015. He developed it when he was struggling to go deep in tournaments. Federer employed the maneuver at the end of practice sessions to get points. His coach suggested he do it in a game, and he had great success, which led to the maneuver becoming quite popular. Shelton, a big fan of Federer, aimed to pull the move off recently.

Playing doubles in the Eisenhower Cup, an event before the Indian Wells Masters, Shelton aimed to return the ball rather close to the serve box. However, the ball would hit the corner of his racket and launch it into the stands, where it landed in the hands of a fan, who would go on to stand up and cheer in joy.

This is not the first time Ben Shelton has attempted a sneak attack. He did so once earlier in 2024 and found much better results in his initial attempt.

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Shelton’s successful attempt at a sneak attack

Shelton defeated Michael Mmoh by 6-3, 6-3 at the Dallas Open. He employed the sneak attack move to beat Mmoh at a point. During the second set, Mmoh served the ball to Shelton’s backhand, and the youngster stepped up three paces to play a backhand down the line, winning the point. Shelton received the ball relatively around the baseline, while Federer would move rather close to the service box. 

Shelton tried to return the ball near the serve box in the Eisenhower Cup but found himself failing to return a valid shot. It points to only one thing: the American youngster requires much more practice if he has to master this special shot. What are your thoughts on this? 

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