Ben Shelton has been told there is an area of his game that needs work ahead of Wimbledon this year.
Shelton beat Taylor Fritz to win the Stuttgart Open last week, which was his first grass court title.
This means that Shelton has joined an exclusive group of players to win a title on every surface, and he has won a title on hard, clay and grass in the first six months of the year.
Despite his impressive start to the grass court season, former Olympic champion Monica Puig has suggested there is something Shelton still needs to improve if he is to go all the way at Wimbledon.
Monica Puig advises Ben Shelton on how to improve his return on grass
Puig was asked about Shelton’s dramatic run to the title in Stuttgart, having saved two match points in his semi-final against Jiri Lehecka, in the latest edition of the Inside-In Tennis Podcast.
The Rio gold medallist was full of praise for Shelton, with Puig particularly highlighting the strength of his serve and effectiveness of his left-handed game on grass.
“I mean, with his serve, he does come to the net, he is a lefty, which also makes it kind of tricky sometimes with lefties it takes a while to ease into the match, even if you’ve played lefties before,” said Puig. “Grass doesn’t leave a lot of time to wait and see and get warmed up to get into the match, so if Shelton comes out firing from the get go, I don’t see why he can’t be a big story at Wimbledon.
“I’ve seen him also playing doubles with [Flavio] Cobolli, they had some incredible points in their last match, I saw a couple of the highlights and it was absolutely insane!
“I feel like Shelton winning that title was already a pretty good precursor to what’s to come at Wimbledon and you know it’s pretty big winning against especially Taylor Fritz. We can say that physically he’s kind of easing his way back in, but he’s really dangerous on grass.
“He’s won that title…he has played exceptionally well on the grass. So that’s already a good title and to have a title under your belt going into Wimbledon already gives you that good feeling that like, ‘Okay, I know how to play on this surface, I know what I’m doing’, and I think it could be really good for him.
“The funniest storylines happen at Slams and we always say like ‘Oh this one’s a done deal’ and then something happens and it just goes the other way. But I do like it, I do like putting him in the mix there.”
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Despite putting Shelton in her mix for the Wimbledon title, Puig does still believe there are some areas of his game that need improving on grass.
Andy Roddick has highlighted Shelton’s return as something that needs to improve, with the American winning just 22% of his points against Fritz’s serve in the Stuttgart final, and Puig has echoed this.
When discussing Shelton’s return, Puig gave the American some advice as to what he could do to give himself a better chance of retrieving the bigger serves on grass.
“I’m not going to shy away from it, the grass is very, very difficult to return serve on,” added Puig. “If you have a bomb of a serve like Shelton does, that’s what you’re pretty much looking to hold on to and probably get to a tie-breaker more often than not.
“But on the return, speaking as somebody who loved to return, you need to be quick, you need to be alert, you need to be scanning for the ball all the time and you need to be, especially on the grass, extremely low. He is very, very tall, but also being tall means that you have that extra wingspan to reach for the balls.
“You need to focus on big targets…I know that the men have incredibly tough serves, but if you can find a way to get that return and kind of build the point from there. I know a lot of people do the serve and volley, but you need to just find a way to get it back in play, especially second serve returns. Second serve return errors are kind of like an absolute no-no. Those are an opportunity for you to start the point.
“So especially on the grass, it’s being alert and very aware on that first serve to get that return back in play somehow and I feel like once that ball is in play, Shelton can run around his backhand and hit that forehand all day. He can chip, he can come to the net, he can finish points off at the net.
“On his serve, I really don’t see it being a problem unless he loses focus and we all know how quickly the momentum can change on grass, so a lot of it is also mental, which I feel like playing on grass, that was the biggest thing aside from the physical.
“You’ll finish matches mentally drained because you know that if you lose focus for a minute, a lead for you can turn into a set going quickly the other way. So, it’s about closing the door as early as you can, then getting those initial games under your belt and feeling good out there.”
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What is Ben Shelton’s best result at Wimbledon?
Shelton will be making his fourth appearance at Wimbledon this year, and he should be encouraged by his result at SW19 last year.
The 23-year-old has improved his best result at Wimbledon every year, with Shelton reaching the quarter-finals in 2025.
Jannik Sinner has beaten Shelton at Wimbledon in both 2024 and 2025, and the American will be hoping to be the fourth seed at this year’s tournament to ensure that he avoids the world number one until at least the semi-finals.
| Year | Ben Shelton’s result at Wimbledon |
| 2023 | Lost in the second round to Laslo Djere, 3-6 6-3 7-6(5) 6-3 |
| 2024 | Lost in the fourth round to Jannik Sinner, 6-2 6-4 7-6(9) |
| 2025 | Lost in the quarter-finals to Jannik Sinner, 7-6(2) 6-4 6-4 |
Shelton will be bidding to make history at Wimbledon this year, as the first American man to win the singles title since Pete Sampras in 2000, and the first US man to win any major since Andy Roddick at the 2003 US Open.
The main draw of Wimbledon will get underway on Monday, June 29.
