Ben Shelton told hiring Juan Carlos Ferrero will not help him ‘move the needle’ as his real problem identified

Ben Shelton’s new partnership with Juan Carlos Ferrero will certainly come as a shock to many tennis fans.

Few could have predicted that the Spaniard would team up with the big-serving American just a few months ago.

Shelton confirmed the partnership on Sunday; 11 months on from Ferrero’s split with seven-time Grand Slam champion Carlos Alcaraz.

Shelton and Ferrero’s partnership certainly has the potential to flourish – Ferrero is an excellent coach and Shelton remains one of the most talented players on the circuit.

However, one high-profile coach remains unconvinced about Shelton’s appointment of the Spaniard.

Rick Macci believes Ben Shelton hiring Juan Carlos Ferrero ‘probably will not move the needle’

Rick Macci remains one of the most well-recognised individuals within the sport of tennis.

The American coach made a name for himself in the early 90’s when he helped develop the games of two superstars: Serena and Venus Williams.

Macci has also worked with former world number ones Andy Roddick and Maria Sharapova.

The 71-year-old has clearly been keeping one eye on current tennis affairs, as evidenced by one of his recent posts on social media.

“Shelton hiring Ferrero will probably not move the needle,” Macci said in a post on X [formerly Twitter], before highlighting the American’s backhand as a key weakness.

“Big Ben biomechanically on the backhand wing is disconnected from the ground up and has to manufacture racquet head speed from the arms too soon.

“Rewiring a groundstroke is a different animal than a serve because of the movement element and muscle memory baked in double crispy since he started playing as a kid. As a result his backhand off the ground and return of serve is the microscopic but crucial flaw for the Florida Gator.

“Maybe a biomechanist with a brand new science based approach could put humpty dumpty back together with the body pulling the racquet through, not the racquet pulling body.

“His backhand works because if you do 100 million of anything it will get better, but maybe not optimal.

Ben Shelton’s results at 2026 Masters 1000 events

• Indian Wells: R2
• Miami Open: R3
• Monte Carlo Masters: DNP
• Madrid Open: R2
• Italian Open: R2
• Canadian Open: CHAMPION
• Cincinnati Open: R2
• Shanghai Masters: R2

“But he has enough other tools in the tool box to be dangerous but because his backhand is disconnected he will have many close matches that he should win easier.”

Macci is far from the first onlooker to take issue with Shelton’s backhand. Even Shelton himself has commented on the issue in the past.

In March 2025, Shelton admitted that he needed to improve aspects of his backhand, while also stating that he felt the shot was no longer a liability.

“I think that there are so many things that continue to need to get better on my backhand, in terms of variety, shot selection, shot tolerance,” he told the Indian Wells website.

“But I’m seeing improvements every single day and I’m just happy that some of the work is paying off. That’s something for me that I felt used to be a liability and in a lot of the matches I play now, I don’t feel that way.”

Who will Ben Shelton play first at the Paris Masters?

Shelton, the third seed, has received an automatic bye through to the second round in Paris.

There, he will face either British former world number eight Cameron Norrie.

Norrie, secured his place in round two for a second consecutive year after defeating French Open semi-finalist Matteo Arnaldi, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3.

The winner of Shelton and Norrie will play one of Matteo Bellucci, Lorenzo Sonego, Arthur Rinderknech or 16th seed Francisco Cerundolo in the third round.