Ben Shelton Told to “Look in the Mirror” After Wimbledon Disappointment

Coming into Wimbledon, former World No.1 Andy Roddick was bullish about the prospects of American men at SW19. With Carlos Alcaraz ruled out due to injury, and Ben Shelton, Taylor Fritz, and Frances Tiafoe in good grass-court form, Roddick’s prediction wasn’t too far-fetched. However, when none of them ended up reaching the semifinals, Roddick did not hesitate to give his blunt assessment of the promising one of the lot.

“Ben was playing great,” said Roddick on the Served Podcast. “Loses to qualifier Virtanen, 150 in the world. Like that one has to like be, you know, you’re four or five in the world. You lose that match. You kind of have to take a look in the mirror.”

Ben Shelton was the fourth seed at Wimbledon, one of the highest seedings that the young American has received in any of his Slam campaigns. Starting his campaign with a first-round match against Otto Virtanen, the Finnish qualifier was not expected to put up a great fight against the American. However, Virtanen played the match of his life, knocking out Shelton in five sets despite the American having a match point. Roddick’s observations about his shot selection were on point as Shelton made crucial errors during crunch situations, as he could convert only one of 12 break-point opportunities in the match.

Tiafoe, too, had a five-set thriller against Alexander Bublik, but the American will be frustrated with the multiple missed opportunities in the third set. With the match at one set apiece, Tiafoe missed nine set points in the third set, which would have given him a decisive advantage. Even though he won the fourth set, to take the match to the distance, but the tenth seed could not cross the finish line. What will be even more disappointing for Tiafoe is that he lost his serve only once, that too in the deciding fifth set.

Fritz was one of the best chances for the American contingent to reach a Wimbledon final, having reached the semifinals at SW19 last year and having beaten Alexander Zverev seven times in a row, which was seen as an advantage before the duo’s quarterfinal clash. However, Fritz was affected by his knee injury and, like Roddick pointed out, Zverev was on another level, especially with his serve and forehand, blowing Fritz away in straight sets.

Coming into the grass-court Major, one would argue that Roddick’s expectations were not unfounded, as Fritz had reached two grass-court finals, both of which he lost to Shelton (Stuttgart) and Tiafoe (Halle). This disappointing result still means that Roddick remains the last American male player to reach a Wimbledon final, which he did back in 2009, losing to Roger Federer in a five-set contest.

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