Henman on Shelton: "He has so many weapons, but he needs to use them better"
Ben Shelton was eliminated in the semi-finals of the Australian Open.
Despite coming very close to winning the first set with two set points, the American finally cracked and lost to Jannik Sinner (7-6, 6-2, 6-2).
Eurosport consultant Tim Henman analyzed Shelton's performance.
According to the former British player, the world No. 20 had plenty of room for improvement: "His biggest weapon is his first serve, but I'm not sure he's using it to its full potential.
With Sinner, they probably played a total of 210 or 215 points in the match. Half of them were on his serve.
He used the serve-volley only three times. He came to the net 25 times, and when he found himself in that position, he won 17 points. Shelton's success rate at net is therefore close to 70%.
But in the context of the match, going up 25 times out of 215 is only one point out of nine. I think that's where you see he's still young.
He's got so many weapons, he's got most of the pieces of the puzzle, but I think he needs to use them better.
Engaging in a back-court battle against Sinner is a difficult task for any player. It's not Shelton's style of play either," Henman elaborated.
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