The controversial change happening across tennis which could be bad news for Ben Shelton

Follow us on Google Discover

Ben Shelton’s career has been shaping up quite nicely in 2025, with the American enjoying his best year to date.

Following an indifferent 2024 campaign, Shelton has really started to improve his game this season, which has seen him achieve a career-high ranking of fifth in the world.

The 23-year-old recorded two lengthy Grand Slam runs and clinched a maiden ATP Masters 1000 title at the Canadian Open.

Should he stay healthy during the development years, Shelton’s future looks incredibly bright, and he is certainly one of the favourites to close the gap on Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz at the top of men’s tennis.

However, there has been a change happening on the ATP Tour this year which looks set to continue in 2026, and it could be bad news for the US star.

Ben Shelton may be affected by the changes happening in tennis

Earlier this year at the Laver Cup, Roger Federer sparked debate on social media by making a comment about the current court speeds at multiple events.

The Swiss legend suggested that the ATP Tour is slowing the courts down in order to benefit their biggest two stars: Sinner and Alcaraz.

World number three Alexander Zverev echoed Federer’s sentiments and was even more blunt about it, stating he ‘hates’ how tennis has changed to favour the ‘new two’.

While it cannot be verified whether or not the ATP is intentionally aiming to favour Sinner and Alcaraz, it is true that the courts at a number of events are being slowed down.

Towards the end of the season, the Paris Masters tournament director, Cédric Pioline, confirmed this, revealing that they had reduced the speed of the typically quick indoor hard courts in the French capital.

Likewise, the Shanghai Masters reduced its average court pace index from 40.8 to 32.8, which didn’t go down well with the players, who already had to deal with the brutal conditions there.

Slow court speeds mean longer rallies, which ultimately means there is more of a physical burden on players, which results in more injuries.

That’s an issue in itself, but it is not the only problem that Shelton will face should the tour opt for slower court speeds around the tour.

Shelton’s game, like most big servers, suits a faster court, as evidenced by his success at the Canadian Open this year, which is the Masters competition with the fastest court pace index, as per BBC Sport.

He has shown how good he can be on grass this year as well, the fastest surface of the three, having reached the quarterfinals of Wimbledon.

Shelton’s game is, of course, not just a big serve.

The two-time Grand Slam semifinalist has actually displayed a big improvement in his overall baseline game, and showed in his matches with Sinner and Alcaraz that he can hold his own in exchanges with them from the back of the court.

However, it is unlikely he will ever reach the same level as Sinner and Alcaraz in that specific area, and will need to rely on his incredible serve at times if he is to have any chance of beating one, or both of them en route to a Grand Slam title.

With his trajectory looking promising, it will be unfortunate for Shelton if the ATP Tour chooses to replicate the changes they made to the Paris and Shanghai Masters at other competitions.

The gap between Shelton and the top two is already a sizeable one, and he will have to work even harder to close it should the conditions become less suited to him.

Ben Shelton’s serve is still an incredible weapon on slow courts

Though there is some concern there, slower courts do not completely nullify Shelton’s serve, as seen from his second match at the Paris Masters against Andrey Rublev.

Against Rublev, Shelton fired 15 aces and tallied a near-80% first serve win percentage, while facing zero break points.

He said after that match: “I think it’s tough for guys to speed me up. I was really effective with my serve tonight, getting a lot of free points.

“Then I was able to make it difficult on the other guy’s serve, push him deep in rallies, make him feel like he had to do something special to win the point.”

Clearly, Shelton is not concerned about what a slower court might do to his overall game, which is exactly the confidence he needs to become great.