By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Saturday September 2, 2023
His dad and coach Bryan Shelton may not have liked it, but everybody else did – especially Ben Shelton himself.
The 21-year-old had a near perfect serving day on Saturday at the US Open, firing 26 aces and winning 49 of 57 first-serve points as he defeated Aslan Karatsev, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 6-0 to reach the fourth round at the US Open for the first time.
But it was that 147 MPH ace, the fastest of the US Open thus far, that really turned heads.
Shelton confessed that his father didn’t really enjoy it, however.
“Dad is always upset when I go for the bombs,” he said. “He was saying to me after the match, he’s like, I know you looked at the clock, looked right at it after.
“They had a little statistic up on the screen of fastest serves of the tournament. He’s like, ‘I know you were looking up at that, too, to see you were number one on the leaderboard.’ He gave me a hard time about it.”
Ben Shelton. 147 MPH. pic.twitter.com/DbgP4GF0V7
— Liam (@Blutman27) September 1, 2023
Shelton told reporters that he slipped into the zone on serve on Friday.
A “Flow State”
“For me, it’s getting into a state where I feel fluid in my service games, like just the rhythm of how I’m walking up to the line,” Shelton said. “It’s kind of hard to describe, but I’m kind of in this flow state when I’m serving well. I’m not even thinking.
“Then I realize at the end of the game that, Wow, I put that together well. Maybe not focusing so hard on how hard I’m hitting the serve or really trying to hit a perfect spot or even go for an ace.
“The more calm, relaxed, and kind of free I am in my service games, I serve a lot better. I’ve been holding serve a lot lately. I knew that I had another gear that I could go to that I’ve seen in myself before. I saw a little bit of that in myself today.”
