Otto Virtanen caused the biggest upset of Wimbledon so far when he stunned fourth seed Ben Shelton on Tuesday afternoon.
Virtanen, the world number 140, performed superbly to defeat Shelton 6-4, 3-6, 6-7, 6-2, 7-6 in four hours and 21 minutes on Court Two.
This result will be a difficult one for Shelton to stomach after demonstrating great form in the lead-up to the major event.
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Shelton won the Stuttgart Open and reached the Halle Open quarter-finals prior to competing in south-west London.
Jim Courier – Shelton’s compatriot – has identified what the 23-year-old can work on ahead of the North American hard-court swing.
Jim Courier says Ben Shelton needs to break his opponents’ serve more often
Martina Navratilova, a nine-time singles champion at Wimbledon, began the Tennis Channel discussion by expressing her shock regarding Shelton’s defeat.
“Massive [shock]. Virtanen is a nasty player – he comes to the net, he takes time away and Ben is not the best passer,” Navratilova remarked.
“For me, Ben would have been a surprise winner, but I thought he had a chance to win the whole thing if he puts it all together.
“So, very disappointing, [he] just couldn’t quite get it done.”
Jim Courier, a four-time Grand Slam champion and former world number one, identified the opportunity Shelton had missed at the All England Club.
“He was just a shell of himself in press, you could see how that dinged him up,” the American icon stated. “He’s the fourth seed, he had a clear shot – at least from a seedings standpoint – to the semi-finals here.
“He’d won a title [Stuttgart]. He had all the momentum going in the right direction, and then this happened.”
ATP live rankings
- 1 – Jannik Sinner
- 2 – Carlos Alcaraz
- 3 – Alexander Zverev
- 4 – Felix Auger-Aliassime
- 5 – Alex de Minaur [+1]
- 6 – Ben Shelton [-1]
- 7 – Daniil Medvedev [+2]
- 8 – Flavio Cobolli [+2]
- 9 – Taylor Fritz [-2]
- 10 – Novak Djokovic [-2]
Courier then identified what Shelton needs to improve to take his game to the next level – his return game.
Shelton’s return has long been a concern. Prior to his match against Virtanen, Shelton had won only 32 per cent of his return points throughout the course of his career.
The ATP Tour average sits at around 35 per cent.
“Look, this is what can happen at this tournament more than any other. The movement the first week is dodgy for everybody,” Courier [pictured below] initially stated. “The ball stays lower the first week. It’s harder to break serve – that’s been a problem for Ben by and large, that’s not a strength of his.
“And the returners, that’s the most important thing in the first week of this tournament. Everyone can hold serve. Everyone’s serve gets better here.
“He doesn’t need to worry about holding serve. He needs to try and find a way to break more.”
Who will Otto Virtanen play next?
After his astonishing victory over Shelton, Otto Virtanen will compete for a third-round spot against British qualifier Arthur Fery.
Fery, one of only three players to advance to the second round in London, defeated Bosnia’s Damir Dzumhur 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 on Tuesday afternoon.
Virtanen and Fery have played each other once before: at the 2022 Nottingham Challenger.
Virtanen emerged victorious on that occasion, defeating the young Briton 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.
