Ben Shelton has the serve to win on a grass court, and he has the bombastic forehand to do that as well. What he hasn't consistently shown is the ability to volley that it might still take to win at Wimbledon. Serve and volley was the old-school way, and might still be the new way too.
No American has won Wimbledon since Pete Sampras took the title in 2000. At the time, it didn't seem so outlandish to think an American such as Andy Roddick might take the title. Or possibly even Andre Agassi, but then for 20 years American men's tennis fell by the proverbial wayside.
There are Americans who could challenge for the 2025 title. Taylor Fritz is the 5-seed, and the third and fourth seeds have already lost at the tournament. Fritz has the automatic serve and ability to move around the court that is necessary to win at the grass-court major. What he might lack is what Shelton has.
Blake Shelton gets delayed but takes care of Rinky Hijikata in the second round at Wimbledon
The 22-year-old has elite athletic ability, and the ability to chase down balls hit away from him, and then the strength to turn those seemingly weak shots into winners. He did as much against overpowered Aussie Rinky Hijikata in the second round of Wimbledon 2025.
Shelton had 46 winners and 20 unforced errors, as well as eight aces. The Aussie finished just slightly better in winners than unforced errors.
The only issue with the match is the extremely poor decision by Wimbledon officials to pause the match after Shelton led 6-2 7-5 5-4 with Shelton next to serve. The court was not overly dark, and Shelton was likely one game from serving out the match. Stopping play at that point was awkward and unfair to fans.
It was also unfair to Shelton, who was clearly on the doorstep of defeating Hijikata. One more game was all that was needed. The Aussie likely spent the night making reservations at whichever tournament he plans on playing next. He was not going to break the American's serve, and he only got the reprise of an expensive overnight stay in London as Shelton finished off the third set 6-4.
The final game (the only one on Friday) took literally 55 seconds, and Shelton hit three aces to finish off the match.
Ben Shelton next plays Marton Fucsovics, who defeated Gael Monfils, another match that was stopped due to darkness after four sets. The American should be favored in Saturday's match.
Should, as expected, Shelton push past Fucsovics, he will face either Brandon Nakashima or Lorenzo Sonego in the fourth round. Shelton will be favored to win that one, too. He is inching closer to a Wimbledon title, as long as tournament officials don't keep him from doing so on account of darkness.