Ben Shelton has been sent a clear message ahead of Wimbledon this year.
Shelton is seen as a top contender for the Wimbledon title this year, where he is the fourth seed at a major tournament for the first time.
The American has enjoyed a successful grass court season so far, which includes Shelton winning the Stuttgart Open.
As Shelton looks to become the first American male major champion since 2003, he has been given some advice by the last ATP player from the States to win a Grand Slam in Andy Roddick.
Andy Roddick says this is a ‘big moment’ for Ben Shelton at Wimbledon
Roddick won his only Grand Slam at the 2003 US Open, and no American man has been able to claim a major title since then.
When previewing this year’s Wimbledon Championships, Roddick told Shelton to be ‘boring’ and not be trying to hit a winner all the time, as he highlighted the opportunity his compatriot has at this year’s tournament.
“I hope Ben goes into this knowing that he’s going to hold serve, he got to the quarters here last year, he doesn’t need to hit winners on every ball on this surface,” Roddick said on his ‘Served with Andy Roddick‘ podcast.
“If he hits a stock, kind of like a firm hard backhand through the middle of the court it’s going to do a lot of damage. At the French Open, I felt like he overplayed, he always felt like he had to create something, I want Ben to be boring.
“You know you’re going to hold serve, I want you to make a ton of returns, however you can best get a good hit on it, centre of the racket, make someone start from a ball that’s awkwardly through the court, low and through the middle, use your athleticism.
“This is a great opportunity for Ben. Highest I think he’s ever been seeded at a Grand Slam at number four. If you want to be that guy, which I know Ben does, I know Bryan [Shelton] does, I know they turn over a lot of rocks to see what needs to be done, right, no stone left unturned, this is the time.
“Last year at the US Open felt like that moment and then he got hurt, won Canada going in. This is a big moment. If you’re Ben and you want to be one of the top two, three best players in the world and be that next one in, you want to be the next [Alexander]Zverev where you’re knocking on that door and then you walk through.
“This is it, this is that moment, you’re on the opposite side of the draw from your toughest matchup with [Jannik] Sinner, Novak’s [Djokovic] a tough draw too, because they can both get that left hand on that return and switch directions. This is a big one for Ben.”
When making his predictions for this year’s tournament, Roddick picked Shelton to reach the semi-finals before losing to another American in Taylor Fritz.
Roddick then chose Jannik Sinner to beat Fritz in the final to defend his Wimbledon title.
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Ben Shelton’s potential draw to the Wimbledon title
Shelton has been drawn to play against Finnish qualifier Otto Virtanen in the first round of Wimbledon this year, who he has never played against before.
The first seeded player Shelton can play at Wimbledon this year is Ugo Humbert, who he could meet in the third round.
Some of the other potential threats to Shelton in his half of the draw include Alexander Zverev, Taylor Fritz and Alex de Minaur, while Sinner and Novak Djokovic are potential final opponents.
Shelton achieved his best result at Wimbledon last year when he reached the quarter-finals, and he will be hoping to go all the way in 2026.
Being in the bottom half of the men’s singles draw, Shelton will begin his bid for the Wimbledon title against Virtanen on Tuesday, June 30.
