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Tennis fans have reacted to Ben Shelton losing in the first round of the 2024 Queen's Club Championships only days after losing his opening match at the BOSS Open. Shelton was seeded second in Stuttgart and had received a first-round bye. In the second round, he faced qualifier James Duckworth and lost to him 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-3.
Seeded sixth, Shelton kicked off his campaign at the Queen's Club Championships against French qualifier Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in the first round on Tuesday (June 18). Perricard caused an upset by defeating the American 6-3, 7-6(3) to move to the second round, where he will take on wildcard Billy Harris. With this defeat, Shelton's season record now stands at 19 wins and 13 losses.
Although Ben Shelton's singles journey at the ATP 500 grass court event has come to an end, he is still scheduled to compete in the doubles event. The World No. 14 has teamed up with Ugo Humbert and they will face the seventh-seeded duo of Michael Venus and Neal Skupski in the first round.
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Shelton's unexpected loss to Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in the tournament's opening round surprised tennis fans. They took to social media to share their thoughts on the same.
One fan expressed confusion over the hype surrounding Ben Shelton. They also criticized his "erratic" play, "inconsistency at the net," and "poor return." The fan also questioned why Shelton is often compared to players like Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.
"Maybe I'm crazy but I'm really not seeing it with Shelton the way that a lot of people on here do.To me he doesn't really have any consistent strengths other than 1st serve. Very erratic off of both wings, inconsistent at the net, and a poor returner. Like I've seen people say that his ceiling is being alongside Sinner and Alcaraz as the best of the new generation and I'm just not seeing that potential at all," a fan posted on Reddit.
"Like I've seen people say that his ceiling is being alongside Sinner and Alcaraz. Well, those people are insane, and so can safely be ignored," another fan posted.
Another fan stated that Felix Auger-Aliassime and Holger Rune are also superior players compared to Shelton.
"Exactly this. Felix Auger-Aliassime is a lot more talented than him and people sh*t on Felix all the time. Same with Rune. Those guys obviously have their own issues, but both showed significantly higher ceiling than Shelton," a fan wrote.
Several fans noted that Ben Shelton's movement on grass courts is lacking.
"I mean duh of course he is worse on grass… it’s his 4th tournament EVER on grass," a fan posted.
"Shelton doesn't move well on grass, and he isn't nearly as good at volleying as he should be. Mpetshi looking good, he could make it to the semis with the draw he has honestly," a fan wrote.
"Shelton should be great on grass with his serve, but damn he can't rally for sh*t on this surface," a fan wrote.
Another fan expressed that despite wanting to support Ben Shelton as their favorite player, his performances this season have been more negative than positive, making it difficult for them to do so.
"Ben is one of my backburner faves that I’m always hoping will start putting it together but this season seems to be more negative than positive so far unfortunately," a fan posted.
Ben Shelton had reached the second round at Queen's Club Championships last year
Similar to this year, Ben Shelton did not have a good run at the 2023 Queen's Club Championships.
Shelton kicked off his campaign at the ATP 500 grasscourt event with a 7-6(4), 7-6(2) victory over lucky loser J. J. Wolf in the first round. However, his journey came to an end in the following round when he faced sixth seed Lorenzo Musetti, who defeated him 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in a close match.
In addition to his singles run, Ben Shelton had also teamed up with compatriot Sebastian Korda for the doubles event. Unfortunately, their partnership was short-lived as they were defeated 6-1, 6-4 in the qualifying rounds by the Swedish-Japanese duo of Andre Goransson and Ben McLachlan.
