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Rennae Stubbs suggested an addition to Ben Shelton's coaching staff. The Aussie doubles expert believes the American ATP star has improved his game over the past few years, but still has more to improve to become a Grand Slam champion.
During the latest episode of The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast, the 60-year-old Aussie, along with Caitlin Thompson, recapped the ATP season and talked about her takeaways from it. When speaking about the World No. 9, Shelton, she said (from 30:00):
"I think Ben Shelton. I think his backhand, for example, was woeful a year and a half ago. His backhand is very good now and it’s only going to get better. I think his slice can get better. He’s a big guy, so he’s got to improve maybe a little bit on the movement."
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Further, she claimed that Shelton has a lot of good going on for him, but there is space for improvement.
"But I think as far as his game is concerned, he has a lot. For me, he has a lot of upside because I think there’s technical things in his game that can get much, much better," she added.
Thompson suggested that Shelton can do better if he gets a better coach. Notably, the 23-year-old has been coached by his father, Bryan, since 2023. The former ATP Tour titlist has helped improve his son's game, but Stubbs believes a character like Darren Cahill in the team could make the difference in the big matches.
"Look, his dad was a great player himself. He’s gotten his son to where he’s at. Could he add somebody else to his coaching staff, like a Darren Cahill or like somebody like that that’s done great things? Yeah, maybe. Maybe we’ll see," she said.
Shelton reached a career-high rank of World No. 5 this year and finished 2025 with a commendable 40-24 win-loss record.
Rennae Stubbs names Jack Draper and Ben Shelton as the only potential competition for Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz
While talking about the 2025 season on the ATP Tour, it will be criminal to miss the dominance of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. The pair has won all the Grand Slam events in the year for the second time running.
Speaking about their dominance, Rennae Stubbs and Caitlin Thompson weighed in on the competition. Stubbs suggested that Jack Draper and, on his best days, Ben Shelton are the only players capable of challenging the current Top 2.
"There's no one, I think. I think that Jack Draper can. I think that Ben Shelton might be able to shock once in a blue moon, just because he has such big weapons, and he's kind of scary to play against because of those things. But other than them, I don't see anyone, Joao Fonseca? Not yet," she said (from 16:45).
In 2025, Shelton played four matches against Sinner and failed to win any. The American has failed to win even a single set against Sinner in their past eight battles. In his lone battle against Alcaraz this year, Shelton managed to win a set but lost 6(8)-7, 3-6, 6-4, 4-6 at the French Open.
