Ben Shelton has emerged as one of the players to watch out for since the 2023 season. He shocked everyone when he made the semifinals at his home soil at the US Open. Since then, the American starlet has produced some great results at Grand Slams last year, reaching the third and fourth rounds of the French Open and the Wimbledon, respectively. This year is also no different, as he had a dream run at the Australian Open, where he reached the semi-finals but ultimately lost to eventual champion Jannik Sinner. But how can the 22-year-old propel himself to Grand Slam glory? Ex-American ATP pro tells it all!

On the ‘Inside In Tennis Podcast, players, broadcasters, and many others discuss everything tennis. In their latest edition, Jan-Michael Gambill, a former American tennis star, recapped the whole Australian Open. The former World No. 14 gave his opinion on fellow American and tennis star Ben Shelton.

He said, “I think the way that he plays with a little bit of chaos is actually fun. Because if you don’t know what you’re going to get, is he going to slap a 410 miles an hour, hit aces? Is he going to kick the serve? Is he coming for it? What’s he going to do? Has he decided to stay in the rallies? That makes him hard to play. I think it makes him hard to play, especially in 3 out of 5 sets, where you see him have better results in the slam, which is great. He talked about his fitness really coming up at this Australian Open. It showed. He had a great tournament.”

The former Wimbledon quarterfinalist further expressed how the young tennis star could improve. “He does have to buy into the fact that he needs to be more consistent against certain players. He’s going to have to be able to rally with a sinner from the baseline, I think, a little bit longer.That’s a decision. Can he do a little bit more at this backhand? I think that holds him back against a sinner who’s just about as good off the forehand and the backhand, whereas Ben can’t really hit the backhand big and hurt his opponents.He’ll change direction and do some good ones. But it’s really the forehand, isn’t it? That’s the big weapon from the baseline. There’s some things that I think they can still improve. So, it’s tough to say, but he has to make that decision,” he said.

Ben Shelton’s journey at the Australasian Open was a major step up from his performance last year, where he lost in the third round to Frenchman Adrian Mannarino. He showed moments of brilliance which he had shown in 2023, when he reached the quarterfinal of AO – which was just his second Grand Slam appearance!This year he bested compatriot Brandon Nakashima, Pablo Carreno, 16th seed Lorenzo Musetti, tennis veteran Gael Monfils and Italy’s Lorezo Sonego on the road to the semi-final. Though he lost in the semi-final, he should take comfort in knowing that he lost to a player who has been almost undefeatable on hard courts these past 12 months. A clap on the back would also be the fact that Shelton had two set points against Sinner in the first set. However, the 22-year-old couldn’t convert them. But the Atlanta native is taking this loss like a champ!

Ben Shelton finds silver lining in semi-final loss

Serving at 6-5 in Melbourne Park, Ben Shelton took the lead in the first set of his first semi-final at the Australian Open. However, the eventual champion broke back and dominated the match to win in straight sets. The left-handed player’s biggest weapon, his serve, failed him in the match. He could only make 62% of his serves, out of which he earned only 56% points from them. But the match did not demoralize him, as he took away some important learnings from it. What’s the goal for him this year? 

In the post-match press conference, he said, “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. I just think that the reps against those guys, the consistency of playing those guys, playing a lot of matches in a week or a couple weeks, that will be the goal this year for.”

Ben Shelton’s Australian Open run proved he has the tools to compete with the best, but consistency and a stronger backhand could be key to his next big step. Can he refine his game and break through to Grand Slam glory this year?