Ben Shelton knows he has a huge chance at the Toronto Masters 1000, which is played on a surface very suitable for his game and the absence of several top players fuels his chances of getting a prestigious result.
The American ace has worked on many aspects of his game in recent months and the results of this effort have been visible especially in Grand Slam tournaments, in which he has become really consistent this season, losing only to opponents superior to him.
World No.1 Jannik Sinner halted his run at the Australian Open and Wimbledon Championships, while World No.2 Carlos Alcaraz eliminated him on the red clay of Roland Garros despite Ben's excellent performance.
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If he wants to reach the same level as the Italian and the Spaniard who are the two current leaders of the men's tour Shelton needs to become a complete player in all areas of the court and that's why he's practicing harder than ever.
Sock speaks about Shelton
According to former world No. 8 Jack Sock, his compatriot needs to solve a weakness if he wants to aspire to win a Major title in the near future.
"Everyone knows that his serve and forehand are his main weapons, but he absolutely needs to improve his backhand if he wants to rise to a higher level," Sock explained. "If his backhand also becomes a weapon, then Ben is really destined to win the most important titles and become a danger for Sinner and Alcaraz as well. If his backhand becomes a strength and allows him to control rallies, his matches will become less demanding from a physical point of view and everything will be easier" added the former American ace.
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Shelton reached the round of 16 in Canada and is set to face Italian star Flavio Cobolli tomorrow. The latter is going through the best moment of his young career and reached the quarterfinals at the Wimbledon Championships a few weeks ago (where he lost to his idol Nole Djokovic).
