Why Ben Shelton could be the biggest threat to Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, and Jannik Sinner at the French Open 2025

When you think of Ben Shelton, you don’t really think of a player who would be expected to do some damage at the French Open, especially against some of the best. But the American could be a problem, and he’s been showing why in Munich lately.

Shelton is American and, by extension, clay may not be his favored surface to play on. It’s mostly a byproduct of his country not really having many true clay courts. He didn’t play on a clay court until he came to Europe, which was a few years ago.

By now, he’s gotten the chance to play a few times, and he’s not that bad at it. He has a 20-15 record on clay (per tennislive), which is actually pretty decent because some Americans in the past have fared much worse.

The reason why Shelton is decent on clay doesn’t come because his game is particularly tailor-made for clay—because it isn’t—it comes down to his willingness to compete. Being a competitor is something Shelton prides himself on because his idol, Rafael Nadal, was a tremendous competitor as well.

He will fight for every point, and he will fight for hours and not mind. That’s the sort of attitude you have to have when you’re on clay. You have to be willing to hang in and grind for hours, and he’s willing to do that. With every match he plays, Shelton looks more and more confident on the surface.

His skill set is decent enough for it. The serve will essentially work in his favor, and the power he can generate is also pretty good. Movement can always be better, but if he can blast players off the court, then he doesn’t need to have perfect movement to win the match.

Another thing to remember with Shelton is that he’s not just a prospect. This is a player who is inching toward the top slowly, and he has made Grand Slam semifinals twice. He’s also bested some big names, including Sinner, so this is a player who can do some damage given that he plays close to his best, which is always a possibility and shouldn’t be ruled out.

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Ben Shelton the troublemaker

Ben Shelton - BMW Open 2025 - Day 3 - Source: Getty

Now that we’ve established that Ben Shelton is capable and at times has looked decent on clay, why do we think that he could challenge some of the best? After all, isn’t Carlos Alcaraz essentially untouchable on clay? Isn’t Novak Djokovic one of the players that has dominated this surface over the past few years? Isn’t Jannik Sinner capable of playing some amazing tennis on clay as well? All of this is true—yet we believe there is something in Shelton that could cause disruption.

Shelton has relentless tendencies, which on clay can simply be too much to overcome. When you compare him to some other players in the top 10, he is by far more aggressive and more attacking than them. He has the power to unleash on clay surfaces, and he has the serve to back it up.

All of the legendary players above can struggle with that. Djokovic himself never had the biggest weapons, which is why sometimes he could get overwhelmed by players who had more power than him, such as Wawrinka.

Carlos Alcaraz as well can have issues when somebody brings a bigger punch to the table than him, and the same goes for Jannik Sinner, who might actually be the most equipped to handle such power because he can generate a good amount of his own. The serve is another reason.

The serve is quite important on clay because it’s such a slow surface that any kind of advantage you can create will go a long way. It isn’t so much about power but about placement as well, and Shelton can place the ball well.

He’s also a lefty, which allows him to place the ball rather wide, especially when serving to the backhand side of players, opening up even more space than usual. Such tiny advantages matter, and against these amazing players, they matter even more.

He’s not the only player that could trouble them. There are others as well, but among the Americans, Ben Shelton might be the one that could do the most amount of damage. He’s proving it this week in Munich with some strong performances as he’s through to the semifinals with a chance to secure a clay final. Wouldn’t be his first because he won Houston, which is a clay event—though not on European red clay—but hey, who’s counting?