Ben Shelton advanced to the quarterfinal round at the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships after defeating Zhang Zhizhen in the round of 16. The American entered the ATP 250 in Houston as the top seed and drew attention from Hall of Famer Andy Roddick, who weighed in on his strengths and challenges on clay and grass surfaces.
Andy Roddick Breaks Down Ben Shelton’s Game on Clay and Grass Courts
Shelton is competing at River Oaks Country Club in Houston following his run at the Indian Wells Open, where he advanced to the round of 32, and the Miami Open, where he faced an early defeat, losing in the round of 64 to Alexander Shevchenko.
In Houston, he received a bye in the round of 32 and defeated former World No. 31 Zhang with a concluding score of 7-6(5), 7-6(3) in one hour and 53 minutes. Before this, he clinched the Dallas Open title after beating Taylor Fritz and performed impressively at both the Australian Open and the ASB Classic.
As he enters the clay and grass swings, American icon Andy Roddick reflected on how Shelton can dominate both surfaces and his areas of limitation. The 2003 US Open champion shared his views in a recent episode of his podcast, “Andy Roddick’s Served Media,” alongside producer Mike Hayden in the “Q&Andy” episode.
While highlighting Shelton’s prominent serve skills, Roddick said, “I mean that serve translates anywhere. Potato patch the serve like when you can serve 140 and then kick it over someone’s head both ways, that tends to work. His ball flight on his forehand naturally has a lot of spin on it.”
He continued, adding that the surfaces have become more similar: “I think as the surfaces have become kind of more mono, I think the entire thing is like, can Ben beat me today with his backhand? Which is tough because there’s only so many people that can neutralize the serve.”
Furthermore, Roddick explained why the clay swing could pose more challenges for Shelton, saying, “On Clay, people have more time to find space over there, right? Whereas, if his serve comes even quicker, you don’t have time to take a full swing and redirect. So, I think Clay is just going to be the toughest surface for him.”
He concluded by saying the young American star has an advantage on grass, having reached the quarterfinal round at the 2025 Wimbledon Championships, and is looking to build on that this year.
He said, “Grass, he played really well last year at Wimbledon. He doesn’t have to play center. He’s looking at a semi-final potentially.”
Shelton is set to face Argentine talent Thiago AgustÃn Tirante in the quarterfinal. In doubles action with Andres Andrade, he reached the semifinal, where he will clash against Rinky Hijikata and Ryan Seggerman.
