Ben Shelton
ATP No. 4 · 4,680 ptsESPN ATP feed 24 Sep 2026Left-handed33 charted matches · 19 Jan 2024 to 17 Apr 2026
Ranking
No. 4
2025 year-end 9 · best 9 in 2025
Serve points won
66.1%
level with US peers
Return points won
31.3%
−4.7 pts vs US peers
Charted record
12–20
DR 0.92 · 6,118 points charted
Ranking trajectory
year-end ranking, log scale · grey lines are the other fourServe profile
3,116 service points charted| Measure | Shelton | US men top 5 | Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st serve in | 67.6% | 63.7% | |
| 1st serve points won | 72.9% | 73.6% | |
| 2nd serve points won | 51.9% | 53.8% | |
| Ace rate | 10.9% | 9.8% | 341 aces |
| Double fault rate | 3.6% | 2.8% | 111 double faults |
| Break points saved | 65.2% | 62.3% | 150 of 230 |
First serves in, by target
2,103 servesSecond serves in, by target
899 servesSeen from behind the server. Shading and the big figure are the share of serves into each third of the box; pills are points won and serve count. Green and red mark the best and worst zone with 25 or more serves.
Return and rally
2,998 return points · 70.0% of returns put in playPoints won by rally length
serve counts as shot one; double faults left outReturn depth
returns in play with a recorded depth24%
41%
35%
Shallow
445 returns · 33.9% won
Deep
772 returns · 43.7% won
Very deep
666 returns · 46.8% won
Shallow lands inside the service line, deep in the front half of the backcourt, very deep in the back half. Won is the share of those return points the player went on to win.
Rally-shot direction
every charted forehand and backhand after the returnForehand
Backhand
Seen from behind Ben, mirrored for a left-hander. Arrow width and the white pill are that direction's share of the wing; the coloured pill is the share of points won when the shot was hit (green best, red worst, grey under 60 shots).
Surface splits
charted matches since Jan 2024| Surface | Matches | W–L | Serve won | Return won | DR | Service pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hard | 24 | 9–14 | 66.9% | 32.0% | 0.97 | 2,331 |
| Clay | 6 | 2–4 | 61.9% | 31.7% | 0.83 | 544 |
| Grass | 3 | 1–2 | 68.0% | 23.3% | 0.73 | 241 · small sample |
Recent charted matches · 12 of 33
newest first · each links to its Tennis Abstract chart| Date | Event | Rd | Opponent | Result | Serve won | Return won | Aces | DF | W / UE | Chart |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 Apr 2026 | Munich · Clay | QF | Joao Fonseca | W 6-3 3-6 6-3 | 78.6% | 31.6% | 7 | 2 | 49 / 31 | chart |
| 28 Jan 2026 | Australian Open · Hard | QF | Jannik Sinner | L 3-6 4-6 4-6 | 59.8% | 27.5% | 9 | 3 | 35 / 43 | chart |
| 31 Oct 2025 | Paris Masters · Hard | QF | Jannik Sinner | L 3-6 3-6 | 54.9% | 20.0% | 7 | 5 | 14 / 22 | chart |
| 7 Aug 2025 | Canada Masters · Hard | F | Karen Khachanov | W 6-7 6-4 7-6 | 72.2% | 28.7% | 16 | 6 | 41 / 47 | chart |
| 5 Aug 2025 | Canada Masters · Hard | QF | Alex De Minaur | W 6-3 6-4 | 68.3% | 42.4% | 13 | 1 | 24 / 22 | chart |
| 22 Jul 2025 | Washington · Hard | R32 | Mackenzie Mcdonald | W 6-3 6-4 | 85.1% | 40.0% | 10 | 0 | 24 / 16 | chart |
| 9 Jul 2025 | Wimbledon · Grass | QF | Jannik Sinner | L 6-7 4-6 4-6 | 64.4% | 18.8% | 14 | 6 | 25 / 44 | chart |
| 13 Jun 2025 | Stuttgart · Grass | QF | Jiri Lehecka | W 6-4 6-4 | 90.9% | 27.1% | 18 | 3 | 37 / 6 | chart |
| 1 Jun 2025 | Roland Garros · Clay | R16 | Carlos Alcaraz | L 6-7 3-6 6-4 4-6 | 65.9% | 32.4% | 7 | 3 | 35 / 48 | chart |
| 25 May 2025 | Roland Garros · Clay | R128 | Lorenzo Sonego | W 6-4 4-6 3-6 6-2 6-3 | 65.5% | 39.5% | 16 | 5 | 62 / 45 | chart |
| 10 May 2025 | Rome Masters · Clay | R64 | Jaume Munar | L 2-6 1-6 | 46.4% | 27.7% | 1 | 2 | 21 / 41 | chart |
| 27 Apr 2025 | Madrid Masters · Clay | R32 | Jakub Mensik | L 1-6 4-6 | 54.2% | 25.6% | 4 | 1 | 22 / 25 | chart |
Glossary
- Charted matches
- · matches of this player coded point by point for the Match Charting Project since 1 Jan 2024; a volunteer-chosen sample, heavier on big events
- vs US peers
- · difference from the other four top US men, pooled over their charted points (serve 66.5%, return 36.0%)
- US top 5
- · the five players in this tour group including this one, pooled
- 2nd serve points won
- · points won after a missed first serve, double faults counted as lost
- Serve target
- · the chart's serve direction code (wide, body, T) on the deuce or ad side, taken from the score before the point
- Rally length
- · serve plus every shot that landed in; the error that ends a point is not counted
- Rally-shot direction
- · the project's own crosscourt / middle / down-the-line / inside-out / inside-in classification of rally forehands and backhands
- Result, unfinished
- · set scores rebuilt from the point log; a chart that stops early (retirement or partial chart) shows no result and is left out of W–L
- DR
- · dominance ratio: return points won divided by serve points lost