Of course, some of Shelton’s boldness was just baked in.
“Our family is very conservative, and everything [Ben] wore had to be neon,” Shelton’s father and coach, Bryan, said.
Aussie tennis fans will recall Shelton diving for balls in a sleeveless top, with sunset gradient, from the Federer-backed brand On. And while French fans may be more used to those shirts being covered in clay, the one constant is a kid who has a habit of standing out.
“He just wanted to do things differently,” Bryan said. “But somewhere along the way, a little switch went off.”
That switch was as much technical as it was mental. Shelton’s one-wood is a 240km/h-plus serve, but as the tour has collectively improved, the Atlanta native realised he needed more than raw power.
“For me, it used to be a crutch,” he told the ATP. “I spent a lot of time working on other parts of my game. I can go through a service game easily now with only second serves, which I could never have done before, and it’s just been my evolution as a player to not just rely on the serve.”
Another piece of Shelton’s evolution is a distinct American swagger.
“I’m saying I’m dialled in,” he told reporters when asked about the ‘hang up the telephone’ celebration he used at the 2023 US Open.