Thursday, 14 August 2025 / Published in Ben Shelton, Canadian Masters, Mental / Emotional

Ben Shelton Is Raising His Tennis IQ – And ATP Masters 1000 Trophies

G’day,

Ben Shelton broke through for his maiden Masters 1000 title in Toronto last week, winning three matches in a tie-break in the third set to take the title. That also included the final against Karen Khachanov.

Ben Shelton: 2025 Toronto

In Shelton’s post-match press conference, he opened up about improving by playing better players week in and week out.

Q. Earlier, you were talking about how this win is going to push you to work even harder. What is the next step for you in terms of your game and your mentality to take the next step and win a Grand Slam? You have been close, making semifinals, but, yeah, what is the next step for you?

BEN SHELTON: Yeah, for me, being as consistent as I was this week. I think that the more opportunities that you have, the more times you put yourself in the position to be playing against the best players in the world, you’re only going to get better.

So, for me it’s being in the later stages of the tournament and playing against guys who are playing their best tennis to see where I match up, and see where my weaknesses are and where I can get better.

Here are some recent “good” losses for Shelton in 2025 that helped position him for the Toronto victory.

Wimbledon quarter-final lost to #1 Jannik Sinner 7-6, 6-4, 6-4
Stuttgart semi-final lost to #3 Alexander Zverev 7-6, 7-6
Roland Garros Rd16 lost to #2 Carlos Alcaraz 7-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
Munich final lost to #3 Alexander Zverev 6-2, 6-4
Indian Wells lost to #14 Jack Draper 6-4, 7-5
Australian Open semi-final lost to #1 Jannik Sinner 7-6, 6-2, 6-2

IMPROVE YOUR MENTAL GAME

Course: Getting Tight

Webinar 70: Closing Out A Set

Webinar 65: Reducing Risk

Webinar 53: Pre-Match Nerves

Webinar 36: Make Better Decisions

Then Shelton opened up about his recent use of video analysis to study upcoming opponents and improve his overall tennis IQ.

BEN SHELTON: I think that watching film is a huge piece for me, something that I didn’t do as much in the past, and as of late it’s been kind of an every-match thing for me, at least watching one match or one set start to finish on the guy I’m playing. I think it’s an important piece of the game that maybe I overlooked a little bit in the past, or didn’t think was as important, because I was like, I’m going to impose my game on whoever I was playing, but it’s a really important part of the game. I think that my tennis IQ and my tennis mind is something that is getting better, and something that needs to continue to get better.

So there you have it.

Shelton’s secret sauce that helped him secure his maiden Masters 1000 is not about hitting a bigger serve or more spin on his forehand. It’s about understanding the dynamics of our sport and specifically understanding the person standing on the other side of the net.

I love where his head is at.

Statistics are important, as they can instantly raise green and red flags to identify what you are doing well, or what is going wrong.

But video is king. There is nothing more powerful than a player watching themselves do something right in a match.

I do a lot of Zoom lessons where players send me recordings of their matches and we go through them together. I also make two highlight videos. One is Best Patterns, and the other is To Improve. Players are quickly able to jump to the next level because they are not guessing about their game.

Data and video. That’s where it’s at for Shelton and every player at every level of our sport.

Best,

Craig

p.s. For more information on going over your match on a Zoom call with me, click HERE.

The practice court is clearly broken. Here’s the proof.

Points are "front loaded". By far the majority of the action, and the winning, takes place in THE FIRST 4 SHOTS. The practice court is full of long rallies. Matches are dominated by short rallies. There is a massive disconnect occurring.

We spend too much time grinding, banging balls up and down the middle of the court – that have no real benefit to winning tennis matches.

There are 3 specific rally lengths in tennis. Here is their percentage breakdown of total points.

0-4 Shots = 70%
5-8 Shots = 20%
9+ Shots = 10%

The First 4 Shots is specifically the serve, return, Serve +1 groundstroke and Return +1 groundstroke. Those are normally the shots that get practiced the least, but matter the most to winning tennis matches.

The net is an extremely high percentage place to be!

If you love playing tennis for fun, spend as much time at the baseline as you like. But if you compete – if the score matters – then you must turn your attention to the net to maximize your potential.

The “herd mentality” in tennis thinks it’s too tough to approach the net in today’s game. The conversation starts with improved string technology, more powerful rackets, and finishes with stronger, faster athletes. The herd think approaching is a relic of the past. The herd is WRONG!

AVERAGE WIN %
Baseline = 46%
Net = 66%

Data from ALL Grand Slams provides the facts about approach and volley, and the data is crystal clear – it’s immensely better than staying back at the baseline, grinding for a living.

The baseline is a tough place to create separation. Here's how to do it.

At the 2012 US Open, only 7 men and 14 women had a winning percentage from the baseline. At Wimbledon 2016, Andy Murray won the title only winning 52% of his baseline points - and he is one of the very best at it in the world!

Num3ers deeply explores the data that rules points, especially from the back of the court. Take a "deep dive" into all three rally lengths (0-4, 5-8, 9+), and winner and errors totals from the elite level of our game. The numbers will shock you!

All 4 Grand Slams

Forcing Errors = 41% Men / 37% Women
Winners = 32% Men / 29% Women
Unforced Errors = 27% Men / 34% Women

Num3ers is very much like putting a jigsaw puzzle together. It's about bringing together different data sets together to create the big picture.

Every recorded match from the 2015 Australian Open - Rd2 to the final.

There is a lot happening on a doubles court. Situations and strategies are constantly being adjusted to create mis-matches with court position. It's hard to keep track of - until now. Dou8les Num3ers is the most comprehensive analysis of doubles data in our sport. The focus is on how a point ends, and it's broken down eight ways to Sunday. Specifically, you find critical information on:

Winners rise to the #1 way a point ends (over forced & unforced errors)

- The last shot of the rally is overwhelmingly struck at the net.
- Center Window: the most important part of a doubles court to control.
- Stephen Huss: an in-depth interview on Wimbledon's Centre Court with the 2005 Wimbledon Doubles Champion.

Dou8les Num3ers leaves no stone unturned. Percentage breakdowns of how often the server or receiver hits the last shot highlight the dramatic influence of the serve. The last shot of the rally is significant, and is broken down into the following categories: volleys, overheads, passing shots, lobs and groundstrokes.

When you play a match, you actually play two matches.

When you walk out onto a tennis court, there are two matches that you are about to play. The first is during the point - a part of the match that you have spent a lot of time preparing for on the practice court. But there is a second match, that takes place in the 20 seconds between the points. This is where the mental and emotional aspects of our sport kick in.

Let's face it, there will be adversity in almost every tennis match that you play. The storm clouds are coming. How bug they are, and how long they last for, are up to you.

Between the points is very tennis specific. It provides a roadmap for the 20 seconds between the points, teaching how to handle the adversity that will surely come, and how to build on the successes that will also be present. Your mind is your biggest asset in a match, and Between the Points takes your hand off the self destruct button and stops you beating yourself.

You don't have to be good at everything, but you have got to be good at something.

You can break tennis down into four key elements - serving, returning, rallying and approaching. Each part has specific patterns of play that consistently deliver higher winning percentages than the others. No more guessing. No more opinions. All facets of our sport are covered in this exceptional product, clearly outlining what patterns to gravitate to, and how to best construct the practice court. Data comes primarily from the 2015 Australian Open.

Building Blocks

MEN = 70% errors / 30% winners
WOMEN = 74% errors / 26% winners

Forcing errors is the best way to construct a point.
You can simply break tennis down into primary and secondary patterns of play - and they are all covered here. Primary patterns include serve and return direction, forehands v backhands, and the best way to approach the net. Secondary patterns include drop shots, serve & volley and 1st volley options. If you play tournaments, this product will greatly help you simplify the singles court.

The conversation starts & ends with the Center Window.

The doubles court is like an hourglass. There are two big ends, but a small neck in the middle where all the action happens. Once you learn the power of the Center Window, where you stand to start the point will take on a lot more significance.

Doubles is a lot more about situations, with four people on the court all "dancing" with one another. Learn all the best doubles patterns, broken down for the server, returner, server's partner and the returner's partner.

Doubles Situations

The "J" - the most ideal movement for the returner's partner to attack the net.

The "V" - a better way of understanding where the server's partner should move to.

Volley Targets - there are four main areas to attack. Know which ones are higher percentage. Beach Volleyball - the idea of a "setter" and "spiker" is ideal for the doubles court.

There are certain parts of the court that the ball travels to a lot, and other low percentage areas that you really don't want to cover at all - like the alley! In general, the serving team wants to keep the ball in the middle of the court as much as possible (to help the server's partner), while the returning team benefits from hitting wider and creating more chaos in the point.