Ben Shelton makes ‘double speed’ Jannik Sinner claim after Wimbledon defeat
Ben Shelton’s hopes of a first appearance in a Wimbledon semi-final were ended by an inspired performance from Jannik Sinner, with the American admitting he is getting frustrated by the dominance of the new ‘Big 2’ in men’s tennis.
Carlos Alcaraz beat Shelton in last month’s French Open and now he was beaten by Sinner in the semi-finals of the first Grand Slam of 2025 at the Australian Open.
After his 7-6(2), 6-4, 6-4 defeat on No.1 Court at Wimbledon, Shelton opened up on the challenges of taking on the two players who are dominating the major championships after ending the era of dominance led by Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
“It’s frustrating,” he conceded as he admits the challenge of beating Sinner and Alcaraz is beyond him right now.
“There’s a lot of things. It’s two very different players and challenges. With Sinner, who I’ve played the most, his ball speed is really high. Never seen anything like it.
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“You don’t see anything like it when you’re going through the draw. When you play him, it’s almost like things are in 2x speed. I’m usually pretty good at adjusting to that speed.
“Yeah, it’s difficult when a guy’s hitting the ball that big, that consistently off both wings, and serving the way he is. I had the right idea for a lot of the match today. I served a lot better than I did in Australia. Smarter. Just went for it.
“But my first-serve percentage dropped in the moments that I needed it, and I probably just played too tentative. It was almost like a lot of the forehands that I was hitting that I needed to go for, that you need to go for against a guy like that, I was kind of spinning them, topping out, like I was playing on a slower hard court or a clay court.
“For me, I’m still learning on the grass what works, what’s most effective. I didn’t have a great day today of doing things that were going to make him uncomfortable.”
Shelton came close in another Grand Slam and his deep run at Wimbledon will secure him a place in the top 10 of the ATP Rankings next week, but he wants more.
“I’m definitely not satisfied,” he added. “I’d be a little bit tone deaf to say I’m dissatisfied with what I was able to put together on the clay and the grass courts.
“I always say that I want to go one step deeper at the big tournaments than I did the year before, and I’ve done that at every slam this year.
“I’ve done something that I haven’t done before… Australia, French and here. I wouldn’t say that I’m satisfied, but yeah, can I be or feel confident coming off the first three slams of the season going into the fourth and encouraged and excited about the opportunity at the US Open because of what I’ve put together so far this year? Yes. At the same time, it still stings.”
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