Mardy Fish gives verdict on Ben Shelton's Grand Slam future as he makes maiden Australian Open SF

Former top-10 player Mardy Fish appreciated Ben Shelton's performances at the Australian Open. Shelton has reached his second Major semifinal, his first in Melbourne after his quarterfinal win over Lorenzo Sonego.

Since bursting onto the scene a few years back, Shelton has been touted as the next big thing in American men's tennis. He has shown rapid improvement, finishing beyond 500 on the rankings at the end of 2021 and rapidly rising through the ranks, finishing as No. 21 by the end of the 2024 season.

The young American player tends to play at his best level on the Grand Slam stage. In his only second Major appearance at the 2023 Australian Open, Shelton reached the quarterfinals. The same year, he had a dream run at the US Open, reaching the semifinals.

Former World No. 7 Mardy Fish expressed his views on Shelton's game. The veteran praised Shelton's ability to play at an elevated level in big matches. Fish also predicted that Shelton would win Multiple Major titles in the future.

"Ben Shelton is an absolute dawg. Monster game. Shows up on the biggest stages. I think he wins multiple slams," Fish wrote on X.

Fish won eight titles on the ATP Tour, with his most prominent run being at the 2004 Athens Olympics, where he won the silver medal for the USA.

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"I think I'm a much better returner right now"- Ben Shelton on his own game after the quarterfinal win

Shelton's serving was his main point of attraction when he first arrived at the scene. In his initial days on Tour, his serves were clocked at nearly 250 kph. The aggressive serving was one of the major parts of his game that helped him have the Grand Slam runs in 2023.

When asked at the press conference (after his quarterfinal win at the Australian Open) about what was different in this run compared to 2023, Shelton replied that back in 2023, he played at a very high limit. He claimed that he served big and hit aggressive groundstrokes, whereas this time in Melbourne, he did not have a good serving performance and hence had to improve other aspects of his game, including his return.

"When I was playing here in 2023 or US Open 2023 I felt like everything had to be perfect..I was redlining I was at my limits, a lot of winners, I was serving amazing and everything had to fall in line for that to happen to me to have those runs...uh lately especially in the matches here everything has'nt been perfect. I had one good serving day out of my five matches and uh I've had to pick up the slack on everything else in my game. I think I'm a much better returner right now than in the past." Shelton said.

Shelton is all set to face top seed Jannik Sinner in the semifinals. The two have locked horns five times before, with the American trailing 1-4 in the head-to-head.