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Ben Shelton: Neither showman nor elite player

Originally posted on Last Word On Sports
By Jack Beatnik | Last updated Nov 11, 2025 6:45 AM ET

The legendary Gaël Monfils recently announced that he will retire at the end of next season, closing a career that began back in 2004. Whatever results he achieves in his final year, it’s already clear that most of the media and the tennis world at large will bid him farewell as one of the greatest showmen in the history of the sport. There will be tributes written about him, some thoughtful, some less so, and of course countless short highlight reels circulating on social media.

There’s no question Monfils built an impressive career, but over time the label of “showman” began to follow him. It’s a label that, at its core, hides the story of unfulfilled potential. Some might say that’s simply who he is. Others might argue it was his way of surviving in professional tennis and building a career on his own terms. But underneath it all was a defense mechanism, something that shielded him from realizing he never quite managed to unlock the immense potential he carried.

Monfils is not a loser, far from it, but the truth is he never developed the mindset of a serial winner. His style of play, entertaining to the crowd but often self-destructive, was his way of escaping that truth. It became his comfort zone, and in the end, it made him the kind of player who, despite all the respect he deserves, will be remembered mostly as a showman.

Showman, or something more

Ben Shelton shares certain similarities with Monfils.

He may not be quite as naturally gifted, but when he began breaking through on the ATP Tour about three years ago, it was clear he had that same showman spark. Some people, and rightly so, saw him as a confident, even cocky kid, fond of trash talk rarely heard in tennis. But that attitude wasn’t surprising considering where he came from. He arrived straight from college tennis, having played at the University of Florida, where his father Bryan Shelton, once ranked No. 55 in the world, coached the men’s team and now serves as his main coach. College tennis is a world that often teeters on the edge of confrontation and has little to do with traditional tennis etiquette.

That might explain why he’s had far better results at Grand Slams, where he can feed off the crowd’s energy, than at smaller tournaments. From the beginning, Shelton loved the big stage, and it’s fair to say the big stage loved him back. He had that same showman streak and thrived on the audience’s energy. And while his playing style isn’t much like Monfils’s, the flair and the need to perform are what connect them.

Shelton is a 193-centimeter-tall left-hander who, early on, relied heavily on his explosive serve while playing a wild, attacking brand of tennis full of spectacle. He’s not nearly as strong defensively as Monfils, but his game is varied and creative, and it was clear from the start that he was a raw talent capable of reaching the top once he brought some order to the chaos.

Shelton brushed off comparisons to Monfils after their Australian Open match earlier this year, saying he preferred to stay focused on what happens on court. He went on to beat Lorenzo Sonego before losing to Jannik Sinner in his second career Grand Slam semifinal.

For comparison, his compatriot Taylor Fritz has reached one final and one semifinal, though he’s five years older. Shelton, who recently turned 23, began the year ranked 21st in the world and is now up to fifth, having already secured his spot at the ATP Finals almost a month ago. Considering this is only his third full ATP season, his rise has been remarkably quick, a clear sign of his potential.

In the meantime, he’s matured and learned to control the chaos. Shelton will always have that showman side to him, but the key is balance, both in shot selection and in how he interacts with the crowd. Early in his career, that interaction often drained too much of his emotional energy and threw off his focus. Now, as a more complete player, he’s less dependent on his serve and on spectacular winners, though there’s still plenty of work ahead if he wants to truly challenge Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.

Not elite yet

Shelton may be ranked fifth in the world, but he’s still not an elite player in the truest sense of the word. He’s not yet someone who produces strong results week after week. This season, for example, he ranks only 11th in win percentage, and as usual, his record is far better at Grand Slams than at other tournaments, with 77 percent wins at the majors compared to 61 percent elsewhere. That number even includes his title at the Canadian Masters, a tournament that did not feature Sinner, Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, or Jack Draper.

Shelton has always loved the big stage, and that was clear from the moment he joined the ATP Tour. In just his second Grand Slam appearance, he reached the quarterfinals of the 2023 Australian Open, and later that same year advanced to the semifinals of the US Open, where his match against Djokovic became a valuable learning experience. This season he’s shown more consistency across smaller tournaments, but there’s still a long road ahead, because the mindset of a serial winner can only be built through sustained success.

He’s also had some bad luck this season, picking up an injury just as he was building momentum at the US Open. But the truth remains that he’s still learning how to win in runs and isn’t yet a top-tier player, at least not one who can truly test Sinner or Alcaraz on the biggest stage.

He has, however, managed to tone down some of the showmanship that once did him more harm than good, though the search for perfect balance is far from over. For now, it’s a good sign that, with all due respect to the legendary Frenchman, Shelton doesn’t want to be mentioned in the same breath as Monfils.

This article first appeared on Last Word On Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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