After a promising start to his grass-court campaign, Ben Shelton’s Wimbledon run proved to be unexpectedly brief and disappointing. The American was among the top four seeds at the tournament and one of the favorites to make a deep run. However, he lost his first-round match to a qualifier, further worsening an already disappointing Grand Slam season.
Former World No. 1 Andy Roddick was critical of his compatriot while also acknowledging that Shelton only began competing regularly on the Tour in 2023.
Andy Roddick Critiques Ben Shelton’s Wimbledon Loss
Before arriving at SW19, Shelton had produced some notable results on grass, winning the trophy in Stuttgart and reaching the quarterfinal in Halle. His success, coupled with the strong performances of Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul, and Frances Tiafoe, convinced Roddick of the Americans’ potential to dominate Wimbledon. But no player made it past the quarterfinals.
“I was pretty convinced that we were going to have one (American man) in the final,” the former player said on the Served with Andy Roddick podcast.
At Wimbledon, where he was defending his quarterfinal run from last year, Shelton lost his opening match against qualifier Otto Virtanen, who was ranked World No. 140 at the time. The narrow 6-4, 3-6, 6-7(8), 6-2, 7-6(9) defeat despite holding a match point was labeled ‘one of the toughest losses’ by the American.
“Ben was playing great. Loses to qualifier, Virtanen. That one has to be… you’re No. 4 or No. 5 in the world; you lose that match, you kind of have to take a look in the mirror,” Roddick said.
Roddick pointed out technical errors in the 23-year-old’s game that resulted in his early exit. “The pattern recognition, I don’t think, was there. Some weird dropshots and decision-making.”
“Ben has all upside. He had never been out of the country before he went to Australia and made the quarters. He’s not one of these guys who was playing junior tournaments from when he was 11 years old. I do give some grace for that, but it has to be disappointing for him,” Roddick continued.
Shelton, who has built a reputation for thriving on the biggest stages and delivering at Grand Slams, has won just five matches across the three Majors this season. Four of these wins came at the Australian Open, where he reached the quarterfinals, and one came before his second-round loss at the French Open.
He has also won three titles so far this season, one on each surface, but his results have otherwise been forgettable. Shelton has won just one match across four Masters 1000 tournaments he has played so far this season. There are, therefore, several concerns surrounding his form as he heads into the North American hard-court swing.
The World No. 6 has accepted a wildcard at the Mubadala Citi DC Open (July 27-August 2) ahead of his title defense at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Montréal.
