Ben Shelton has certainly made progress this year, considering that he has achieved some of the best results of his career. The young American ace who has a game very suitable for modern tennis and is able to make a difference on all surfaces has certainly improved from a tactical point of view and has also worked on his weaknesses, becoming consistent especially in Grand Slam tournaments.
He reached the semifinals at the Australian Open, where he was beaten only by former world No. 1 Jannik Sinner, who prevented him from going beyond the quarterfinals at the Wimbledon Championships a few months later. Ben also expressed a high level of tennis at Roland Garros during the spring, unleashing a performance above expectations against Carlos Alcaraz who lifted the trophy in Paris in the last two editions.
As if that were not enough, he also won his first Masters 1000 title in Toronto during the summer, also taking advantage of the numerous absences among the top players (neither Sinner nor Alcaraz were present in Canada because they were recharging their batteries).
Shelton improved in 2025
Thanks to his achievements in 2025, Shelton qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin for the first time in his career and hoped to shine in indoor conditions. However, his run at the Inalpi Arena ended already in the round robin due to three losses in a row (against Zverev, Aliassime and Sinner).
Some argue that the American star would need to change coach to have his definitive consecration at the highest level. During the latest edition of the 'Nothing Major' podcast, former American ace Steve Johnson expressed his candid point on this topic: They have done a great job of showing up those little soft spots in his game, and now theres no weaknesses.
So I would give it to Bryan Shelton, just for what hes done with Ben and having him grow on Tour and still get better and better each time he goes out there.
