“Sometimes you miss your window” – Shelton rues struggles on serve in Sinner loss

“I’ve made my living on tour so far serving out sets and being able to serve out sets,” were some of Ben Shelton‘s first words in his post-match press conference following a 7-6 (2), 6-2, 6-2 defeat to Jannik Sinner in the semi-finals of the Australian Open.

A painful admission for a player who surrendered a likely-looking one-set lead over the world No 1 and defending champion, having failed to convert two set points when serving at 6-5 up in the opener.

Yet it is testament to both Shelton’s understanding of his own game and his self-effacing character that he immediately addressed the issue unprompted.

“Having two set points on my serve, serving at 6-5, I feel like it’s uncharacteristic for me not to come through and win that,” he continued.

“Obviously you’re playing the No. 1 player in the world, the chances, the windows are always small. Sometimes you miss your window, and the guy steps up his level, starts making a lot more first serves, playing better. The break chances don’t come as often.”

lessons learnt for shelton as serve underperforms

More wise words from the young American.

The windows of opportunity against the very best players in the world are indeed narrow and fleeting. After a close and competitive opening set, it was Shelton who had impressively arm-wrestled his way to serving for it.

Yet he could not fully utilise one of his biggest weapons at the most pivotal juncture in this match, instead getting dragged into extended baseline rallies against a player who loses so few of them.

Both set points went begging, before a break for Sinner preceded a clinical tiebreak and the window had closed.

From that point on, despite some close games and rallies, the result already seemed inevitable.

Shelton displayed his ability to go toe-to-toe with Sinner in elongated exchanges, demonstrating his physicality well and conjuring an occasional deftness of touch at the net that exhibited his true underlying quality.

Yet his greatest asset – the serve – underperformed in one of the most important matches of his career. It is something Shelton is well aware of, and will no doubt be seeking to rectify.

“My spot serving I thought just wasn’t there tonight. Honestly, that’s been one thing for me this whole tournament, I thought that I haven’t served too great.

“I’ve been making up with my plus-ones, doing it with my forehand. I’ve honestly been breaking serve a lot. That was just one thing that outside of the Carreno Busta match that never clicked for me.

“It’s just something to keep going back and improving on. I thought that from the ground I played well. I thought I volleyed pretty well. I thought I returned well. I put myself in positions.

“I broke twice in the first, and I put myself in positions to break early in the second and the third, the second serve returns on break points or deep in a rally on a break point.”

positives to take from encouraging australian open run

The positives for Shelton – and there are many – include the fact that he was able to navigate his way to a second Grand Slam semi-final with one of his most important shots not operating at maximum capacity.

Another is the fact that this contest was much closer than the score line suggests, again all with an under-par serve.

Shelton knows exactly where he underperformed and is already willing to work to fix it. This implies that, when the 22-year-old next comes up against a leading player on one of the biggest stages in the sport, he is at low risk of making the same mistake twice.

As he continues to nurture his extraordinary natural talent into a more polished, all-round ability, it would be of little surprise to see Shelton back at the business end of a major tournament soon.

After all, as windows close other doors of opportunity open.

“Like I said, sometimes those chances are gone. They don’t come again,” Shelton concluded.

“But that’s the one thing for me that has to be better.”

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