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Ben Shelton's return game was caught in the negative spotlight after his shocking loss to David Goffin in the second round in Acapulco. Some fans even urged the American to fire his father-coach Bryan Shelton.
Apart from his fantastic semifinal run at the 2025 Australian Open, Shelton has endured an underwhelming season. The American was ousted in the second round of the ASB Classic after receiving a bye in the first round. Later, he faced second-round exits at the Dallas Open and the Abierto Mexicano Telcel in Acapulco.
On Wednesday, February 26, Shelton exited the ATP 500 event in Acapulco after a disappointing 6-7, 3-6 defeat to Goffin. The 22-year-old's struggles on return were evident in his match, highlighted by the stats.
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Shelton managed only 27% of first-serve return points (11/40) and an equally poor 27% on second-serve returns (6/22), indicating major difficulties in reading and attacking his opponent's serves. In contrast, Goffin won 30% of first-serve returns (15/49) and a strong 60% on second-serve returns (15/25).
After the result of the match was posted on Reddit, fans highlighted the American's shortcomings in his return game and urged him to look for a new coach.
"Once ben learns how to return a serve it's over (he won't, bro needs to fire his dad)" one fan wrote.
"Ben needs to leave his dad and find a new coach ASAP. I’m afraid he’s too emotionally connected to his father and by time he realizes that new coaching is needed, it might be too late to improve his skill set," another fan wrote.
"Have to admit that I didnt watch this match but on paper this is an awful loss for Shelton. Goffin has been on the decline, I watched some of his matches in Australia and his level was bad (which is a shame because he was a great player)," a third fan wrote.
"Poor Ben couldn't return an envelope tonight if I licked the stamp for him and showed him the mailbox :(" yet another fan wrote.
Here are some fan reactions on X slamming Ben Shelton's return game.
"Really brutal loss for Ben Shelton man… the return game just has to improve," one fan wrote.
"Shelton return is just garbage and unless this improves ain’t really going up any further in ranking in my opinion," another fan wrote.
Ben Shelton was one of the Top 5 seeds eliminated from Acapulco 2025 on the same day
Ben Shelton was the fourth seed at the ATP 500 event in Acapulco. He was ousted on Wednesday and along with him, the rest of the Top 5 seeds were also eliminated.
Top seed Alexander Zverev was defeated by 19-year-old qualifier Learner Tien while second seed Casper Ruud and third seed Tommy Paul withdrew from the event before their matches started due to stomach ailments.
Adding to the illness issues, fifth seed Holger Rune retired mid-match against Brandon Nakashima and later took to X to reveal that he was suffering from food poisoning.
