Ben Shelton defeated Cameron Norrie, 6-3, 6-4, in the second round of the Paris Masters.
The win came days after Shelton announced Juan Carlos Ferrero as his coach for 2027. The announcement shocked many tennis fans, who had expected Ferrero to return to coaching alongside a young Spaniard like Rafael Jodar.
Shelton, the world number four, is clearly not satisfied with his ranking and wants to chase down Alexander Zverev, Jannik Sinner, and Carlos Alcaraz in the new year. The good news for the American is that he’s already identified areas of his game that need improvement.
Ben Shelton wants to improve on his return and calls Novak Djokovic the ‘blueprint’
Shelton discussed his return of serve during an interview with ‘Tennis Channel‘, following his straight-sets win over Norrie at the Paris Masters.
“You have to guess a little bit. You have to make educated guesses; if you are trying to play it 50/50, the ball is flying by you too fast. I think Novak [Djokovic] is kind of the blueprint for that, hedging his bets and hedging one way, and then a lot of times he is right!” said Shelton.
“I think it’s something that you learn from the best returners in the world, and for me watching tape and trying to improve my return, I feel that on slower courts now I am a very elite returner and over the summer I was finding ways to break multiple times a set.
“I think on the faster courts you have to be a bit more intelligent and savvy to get those breaks and put the ball back in the court. I was aggressive on second-serve returns, which I think is important.”
Shelton ranks fourth for ‘Serve Rating’, but his return numbers aren’t nearly as impressive. The 24-year-old isn’t a top-50 player in any of the five key return metrics across the last 52 weeks.
Ben Shelton’s return stats (Last 52 weeks)
- Return rating – 122.0 (72nd on ATP Tour)
- % 1st Serve return points won – 24.2% (76th on ATP Tour)
- % 2nd Serve return points won – 46.7% (64th on ATP Tour)
- % Return games won – 14.7% (76th on ATP Tour)
- % Break points converted – 36.4% (61st on ATP Tour)
Perhaps that’s an area of Shelton’s game that Grand Slam-winning coach Ferrero can address when he joins the team.
Ben Shelton explains how Juan Carlos Ferrero partnership came to be
Shelton was also asked how his partnership with Ferrero came to be. The Spaniard had announced his intentions to return to coaching in 2027, but few expected him to join forces with Shelton.
“Honestly, I saw the stuff online, and I thought it was true too! I thought he was going with one of these young Spanish guys. But I reached out to my agent and I said can you at least hit the guy up and see if he’s available or if he’s locked something in,” said Shelton.
“He ended up being available, and we had some talks on the phone, and that was kind of that. For me, I am really looking forward to it. I think he is a great guy; we get along well, and hopefully we can have a big year next year.”
How do you think Ben Shelton will perform next season after hiring Juan Carlos Ferrero? 💭
Will he win a Grand Slam title? 🏆
Shelton continued, heaping praise on the man who guided Alcaraz to six Grand Slam titles and the world number one ranking during their time together.
“I think he is one of the best coaches in the world. What he did with Carlos, I thought, was outstanding, and he’s also a guy who has had a lot of success on clay courts, which is something that I am trying to improve,” he said.
“For me it’s a unique situation where I have a parent coach who is willing and able to bring someone in who has no ego and both of us are really looking forward to being able to learn some from Juan Carlos. So for us, it’s the perfect storm. I am happy to have him on the team and super excited to get to work in the off-season.”
Shelton is looking forward to 2027, but still has work to do this season. He will return to play Arthur Rinderknech in the third round of the Paris Masters on Thursday, November 5. After Paris, Shelton will travel to Turin for the ATP Finals, which start on Sunday, November 15.
