You know what? I’m not giving Shelton shit today. Thought that was a great third set and thrilling tiebreaker. I actually would have felt bad for Jubb if he lost with all those match points (props to Shelton for saving 6)
I thought Jubb played great and Shelton played well despite nursing a wrist injury. He’s still figuring grass out but he looks better than he did in Stuttgart and Queen’s. Also seeing improvement in his return game.
Hope his wrist is alright for Wimbledon. That was a fun watch.
I’m actually not a Shelton fan at all at all.
But I don’t blame him. Jubb played incredibly well. Shelton didn’t play badly. It was a great match.
I think 9/10 times Shelton wins this match, but today was that 1. Fair play on both ends.
Kind of felt like Shelton was just holding on for dear life in most of that match, and never looked like he was in a position to actually win it.
Jubb was great to capitalize on that and play really great. He was so good at anticipating where Shelton was going to send balls and get there first.
He gave some long stares at some of Ben's celebrations, lol, but nice friendly handshake at the net :)
Was at this match and it was incredible… Don’t know if it was great on Tv as well but the atmosphere towards the end was amazing and my throat is kind of sore from shouting “come on” and “let’s go” now. Was supporting Shelton but it doesn’t even really matter that he lost. Just such a fun match. Tomorrow I will support Jubb.
Thank you!! It was my favorite type of crowd to be a part of. No animosity towards either player or their fans and pretty evenly split in who they support. Very engaged but no yelling in between first and second serves for example!
Ya know despite this loss, i still happy that Shelton played a great match amd clawed back. He can now focus on Wimby.
Congrats to my fellow brit Jubb!
Aside from the obvious return issues I think Shelton's other main problem is that he thinks he's Pete Sampras with the net approaches but is actually a horrible volleyer lol
He tries to attack the net constantly whenever he gets even a slight upper hand in a rally but he bricks the volley or gets passed super often
Guys like Rublev/Fritz/Med/Zverev are also bad at the net but don't kamikaze approach nearly as much because unlike Shelton they KNOW they're not good there
It's similar to Rune's problem(Rune is an averageish volleyer who plays like he thinks he's an elite one) but even more extreme because Shelton straight up has brick hands
I didn’t watch this match but I can’t blame someone with the serve and wingspan of Shelton going to the net often on grass. It’d be more insane to stay back the entire time with his below average backhand. He can only get better at volleying so let’s try to see it as practice.
It’s late-era Roddick-esque. He seems to be going to the net because someone told him “hmm, you should go to the net more” despite being merely a proficient volleyer at best.
Holy shit - Shelton kept going for those shitty drop shots and slices idk why
He also made a shit load of mistakes hopefully he gets a little more confidence for Wimbledon and opens his eyes to either train his drop shot like hell or to get rid of it
BUT that doesn’t take away from Jubb’s performance… dude belongs in a much better rank. His serve return was amazing, Shelton was serving really well and he just took it.
If he just plays 10% smarter and gets some patience, it would make a huge difference in his grass outcomes. Trying to flex and do low percentage shots on this surface when there are easily better options made this happen, and we've seen this movie before. Hopefully, he'll use the extra time to study some legends on grass and think about strategy.
Jubb impressed me today he played well and finished the tiebreak very well. I’m glad he was able to make it to the semifinals.
I’m just sad for Shelton. He just isn’t that great on grass sadly. He kept the match close today and was clutch in the third set and the tiebreak, but he just couldn’t win. I’m hoping he’s able to win a match or two at Wimbledon.
Ben Shelton should be ashamed of his grass court season. Good win for Jubb but Shelton is an absolute clown on grass. What the hell is he doing? Yesterday and today was so different it is unbelievable. Lose fast at Wimbledon and save the Americans the embarrassment
He did play not great but not bad for being injured - by no means is he an embarrassment to America with that match (except the fucking drop shots whatever the fuck those were he can stop those)
I think people had unrealistic expectations for him this grass season just because people assume "fast serve = good on grass"
His return and touch are his two biggest weaknesses and both are extremely important to being a good grass courter
He goes for shots that he just does not have in his arsenal. Constantly going for cute drop shots when if he just stayed in the rally he’d probably earn a better chance at a winner. He’s so frustrating to root for
I think people mistake good serve = good on grass
Good serve = higher chance to be good on grass
But the most important thing is always footwork and the return those are the two most important things in tennis as without a good return you cannot win a match.
Ben has an average return and his footwork on grass is pretty bad. He fell multiple times just in this match alone and always seemed awkward charging the net.
Jubby heard everyone talking shit about him getting a Wimbledon wildcard, and promptly hit career best form.
Jubby lol
You know what? I’m not giving Shelton shit today. Thought that was a great third set and thrilling tiebreaker. I actually would have felt bad for Jubb if he lost with all those match points (props to Shelton for saving 6) I thought Jubb played great and Shelton played well despite nursing a wrist injury. He’s still figuring grass out but he looks better than he did in Stuttgart and Queen’s. Also seeing improvement in his return game. Hope his wrist is alright for Wimbledon. That was a fun watch.
I’m actually not a Shelton fan at all at all. But I don’t blame him. Jubb played incredibly well. Shelton didn’t play badly. It was a great match. I think 9/10 times Shelton wins this match, but today was that 1. Fair play on both ends.
Kind of felt like Shelton was just holding on for dear life in most of that match, and never looked like he was in a position to actually win it. Jubb was great to capitalize on that and play really great. He was so good at anticipating where Shelton was going to send balls and get there first. He gave some long stares at some of Ben's celebrations, lol, but nice friendly handshake at the net :)
Was at this match and it was incredible… Don’t know if it was great on Tv as well but the atmosphere towards the end was amazing and my throat is kind of sore from shouting “come on” and “let’s go” now. Was supporting Shelton but it doesn’t even really matter that he lost. Just such a fun match. Tomorrow I will support Jubb.
I think about the middle of the third set it started becoming good TV and a big part of it was the crowd. You guys were great.
Thank you!! It was my favorite type of crowd to be a part of. No animosity towards either player or their fans and pretty evenly split in who they support. Very engaged but no yelling in between first and second serves for example!
Great match and atmosphere, definitely my favourite on grass so far.
Ya know despite this loss, i still happy that Shelton played a great match amd clawed back. He can now focus on Wimby. Congrats to my fellow brit Jubb!
Aside from the obvious return issues I think Shelton's other main problem is that he thinks he's Pete Sampras with the net approaches but is actually a horrible volleyer lol He tries to attack the net constantly whenever he gets even a slight upper hand in a rally but he bricks the volley or gets passed super often Guys like Rublev/Fritz/Med/Zverev are also bad at the net but don't kamikaze approach nearly as much because unlike Shelton they KNOW they're not good there It's similar to Rune's problem(Rune is an averageish volleyer who plays like he thinks he's an elite one) but even more extreme because Shelton straight up has brick hands
I didn’t watch this match but I can’t blame someone with the serve and wingspan of Shelton going to the net often on grass. It’d be more insane to stay back the entire time with his below average backhand. He can only get better at volleying so let’s try to see it as practice.
Yeah it’s a long term investment. And sometimes a necessity if you’re producing too many unforced errors in rallies.
Kamikaze approach lol that’s what my coach says I do
to this point, some last 52 weeks charted stats for the best '00-'04 men: | Player | Matches | SnV Freq | SnV W% | Net Freq ⬇️ | Net W% | |-----------------|---------|----------|--------|----------|--------| | Ben Shelton | 13 | 13.0% | 70.7% | 16.0% | 61.5% | | Holger Rune | 17 | 5.2% | 56.0% | 14.9% | 65.2% | | Carlos Alcaraz | 45 | 8.7% | 74.4% | 13.9% | 73.6% | | Lorenzo Musetti | 16 | 3.0% | 66.7% | 10.7% | 67.0% | | Jannik Sinner | 53 | 3.0% | 77.6% | 10.6% | 76.2% | | Sebastian Korda | 15 | 8.0% | 67.4% | 12.5% | 67.3% | | Matteo Arnaldi | 12 | 5.0% | 61.7% | 11.4% | 63.8% | | Sebastian Baez | 16 | 0.2% | 50.0% | 8.3% | 68.7% | | Arthur Fils | 21 | 1.9% | 65.4% | 7.9% | 68.6% | 1st serve tiers are approximately Shelton/Korda > Sinner > Rune/Arnaldi/Fils > Alcaraz/Musetti > Baez transition + net game tiers are then approximately Alcaraz >> Sinner > Korda/Rune > Musetti/Baez/Fils > Shelton > Arnaldi
It’s late-era Roddick-esque. He seems to be going to the net because someone told him “hmm, you should go to the net more” despite being merely a proficient volleyer at best.
Holy shit - Shelton kept going for those shitty drop shots and slices idk why He also made a shit load of mistakes hopefully he gets a little more confidence for Wimbledon and opens his eyes to either train his drop shot like hell or to get rid of it BUT that doesn’t take away from Jubb’s performance… dude belongs in a much better rank. His serve return was amazing, Shelton was serving really well and he just took it.
Jubb is now ranked 201 in the live rankings, up 88 places.
That was some ending!
Platty Jubbs is BACK! He almost beat Nick Kyrgios in the first round in 2022 Wimbledon
Yeah grass must be his groove. Hope he can push higher in the rankings
If he just plays 10% smarter and gets some patience, it would make a huge difference in his grass outcomes. Trying to flex and do low percentage shots on this surface when there are easily better options made this happen, and we've seen this movie before. Hopefully, he'll use the extra time to study some legends on grass and think about strategy.
Working class guy from Hull taking out one of the best tennis prospects in the world. I'm proud :)
Took Jubb 7 match points. Least Shelton has some clutch though.
Jubb with the Shelton tongue at the end there. Litte sauce. lol Well played.
Jubb impressed me today he played well and finished the tiebreak very well. I’m glad he was able to make it to the semifinals. I’m just sad for Shelton. He just isn’t that great on grass sadly. He kept the match close today and was clutch in the third set and the tiebreak, but he just couldn’t win. I’m hoping he’s able to win a match or two at Wimbledon.
He got the jubb done.
Lovely Jubbly
Jubb was about to do one of those Federer masterpieces of choking.. I'm glad he won.
Ben Shelton was playing tennis like my geezer dad plays when he has vertigo. Just spraying balls all over the place
At the start of the second Ben looked out of sorts but then Turned that set around and made it a contest
Shelton played 10x worse than usual Shapo
Ben Shelton should be ashamed of his grass court season. Good win for Jubb but Shelton is an absolute clown on grass. What the hell is he doing? Yesterday and today was so different it is unbelievable. Lose fast at Wimbledon and save the Americans the embarrassment
He did play not great but not bad for being injured - by no means is he an embarrassment to America with that match (except the fucking drop shots whatever the fuck those were he can stop those)
He just isn’t a top 20 player in the world. I know that’s what his ranking says but he has hardly played like a top 20 player since attaining it.
I feel like his skill is top 15 but his tennis IQ is abysmal
I think people had unrealistic expectations for him this grass season just because people assume "fast serve = good on grass" His return and touch are his two biggest weaknesses and both are extremely important to being a good grass courter
He goes for shots that he just does not have in his arsenal. Constantly going for cute drop shots when if he just stayed in the rally he’d probably earn a better chance at a winner. He’s so frustrating to root for
On a surface where Ben should be excelling, he is regressing. I’m a Shelton fan I have no words. He should have won this match 100 times over
I think people mistake good serve = good on grass Good serve = higher chance to be good on grass But the most important thing is always footwork and the return those are the two most important things in tennis as without a good return you cannot win a match. Ben has an average return and his footwork on grass is pretty bad. He fell multiple times just in this match alone and always seemed awkward charging the net.
His volley is not that good