Jessica Pegula and Madison Keys react to Ben Shelton announcing Juan Carlos Ferrero as his new coach

Ben Shelton has hired Juan Carlos Ferrero as a new coach for the 2027 season.

Ferrero will work alongside Bryan Shelton next year, looking to guide the 24-year-old to the top of the world rankings. Shelton currently sits fourth, behind Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, and Alexander Zverev.

American WTA stars Jessica Pegula and Madison Keys have now delivered their verdict on Shelton and Ferrero’s new coaching partnership.

Jessica Pegula and Madison Keys are interested to see the ‘dynamics’ between Ben Shelton and Juan Carlos Ferrero

“Big news on the men’s side, Juan Carlos Ferrero is now going to coach Ben Shelton. Interesting. Interesting dynamic for Ben, too, because his dad has kind of been his main coach, although I think Bryan is still going to be around, of course, but also, someone who’s not American, it’s different,” said Pegula on ‘The Player’s Box Podcast‘.

“I’m really interested to see the dynamics because, obviously, Carlos [Alcaraz] is very different personality-wise from Ben, so I think it will be interesting to see how Juan Carlos approaches them. I think it will be interesting to see if you can see certain parallels and where he goes about things a little differently,” added Keys.

Ferrero coached Alcaraz to multiple Grand Slam titles and helped him reach world number one before leaving his team at the end of the 2025 season. Keys and Pegula are interested to see if Ferrero approaches coaching Shelton differently from Alcaraz.

“They’re definitely very different, but also, I think him and Carlos Alcaraz are really different. Carlos is pretty energetic too, so I wonder if he’s just going to… because I feel like Ben is so hype all the time, I wonder if he’ll kind of be a little bit more focused in a way, maybe not as hyped, because Juan Carlos is a little more level, stern. So I wonder if, I don’t know if that will help Ben or not; it’s not that he’s not focused,” said Pegula.

“There’s just like big energy spikes,” Keys added.

“Yes, that’s a good way to put it. He’ll go for like a crazy shot or a crazy second serve,” said Pegula.

Only time will tell how Ferrero and Shelton will get on in 2027. The good news for Ferrero is that his new pupil is playing some of the best tennis of his career and continues to impress heading into the final few weeks of the year.

Ben Shelton reaches the Paris Masters final after Juan Carlos Ferrero announcement

Days after announcing Ferrero as his new coach, Shelton reached the Paris Masters final, defeating Cameron Norrie, Arthur Rinderknech, Tommy Paul, and Luca Van Assche. He failed in his bid to win the title, though, losing to Alcaraz in the final, 6-7, 5-7.

Ben Shelton at the 2026 Paris Masters

• Second round [WIN] vs Cameron Norrie, 6-3, 6-4

• Third round [WIN] vs Arthur Rinderknech, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6

• Quarter-final [WIN] vs Tommy Paul, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3

• Semi-final [WIN] vs Luca Van Assche, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4

• Final [LOSS] vs Carlos Alcaraz, 6-7, 5-7

Shelton has one more ‘big’ tournament to play this year, the ATP Finals, but as he prepares to travel to Turin, what better time than now to assess his performances this season?

The American reached a Grand Slam final and quarter-final this year, in New York and Melbourne, but also suffered two shock early exits in Paris and London. That inconsistency wasn’t limited to the Grand Slam tournaments either.

Ben Shelton’s record at ‘big’ tournaments in 2026

Ben Shelton’s record at ‘big’ tournaments in 2026

Shelton didn’t win a match at the Miami Open, Madrid Open, Italian Open, and the Cincinnati Open, and only won one match in Indian Wells and Shanghai. He went 2-6 at those events, but excelled elsewhere.

He won his second consecutive Canadian Open title and reached the final in Paris. Looking ahead to 2027, Ferrero will clearly want to add consistency to Shelton’s game…

There is work to be done before 2027, though. The ATP Finals begin on November 15 in Turin. Shelton lost all three group-stage matches last year, but as the third seed, he is projected to reach the semi-finals this time around.

O que achou dessa notícia? Deixe um comentário abaixo e/ou compartilhe em suas redes sociais. Assim conseguiremos informar mais pessoas sobre o que acontece no mundo do tênis!

Convidamos você a clicar em Página de Parceiros para conhecer os parceiros do Tênis Portal e acessar seus sites.

Esta notícia foi originalmente publicada em: Fonte original