In August, Shelton won the Masters 1000 in Montreal and lost his opener to Jaime Faria the following week in Cincinnati. Brian Shelton says they saw it coming and couldn’t stop it.
“We said this is going to be the toughest day you’re going to have playing against Faria in the first round since winning the title in Cincinnati,” he said. “Very few people come from that and have another good tournament the next week and he didn’t. He lost in the first round.”
So he called someone who had solved it. “I remember talking to Rafa a few days after that game. I called him and I was talking to him. Rafa, like, you know, you’ve got to be able to get through that match first and have an off day and then be able to play your best tennis again the next week.”
The lesson was learned on Friday when Shelton beat Frances Tiafoe 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 to reach his first career Grand Slam final.
Many people want to relax after they have had something good and want to celebrate it.
“It was a lesson for Ben that you have to be able to bounce back when good things happen, just like you have to bounce back when bad things happen,” his father said. “So we talked about him beating Carlos and how important it is for him to understand that tonight is going to be tougher to come back from because a lot of people want to rest after they’ve had something good and they want to celebrate it.”
Then the rule in five words. “What we’re saying is, don’t celebrate until you’re broke, so you’ve got to win the next game. You have to consolidate it. Then somewhere along the line, hopefully next week we can have a bit of a celebration.”
The player’s score matches the coach’s
Shelton: “Once I got into my routine…”
Shelton described the semifinal in a register he hadn’t used since the quarterfinals, and the difference is the whole point.
“I was honestly shocked at how calm I was out there today,” he said. “The last game I won definitely had this feeling of ecstasy, I felt like I was on top of the world. This game I felt a lot more methodical in how I went about it, how focused I was, finishing the job the way I did.”
He attributed the gap in schedule as much as mindset. “Having two days was huge. It’s easier for me in the tournament. Winning a title, finishing a week or two weeks, whatever it is, is different than going to a new place and starting over. It’s much harder for me. When I’m playing in a tournament and getting into my routine, it’s a little bit easier.”
And he didn’t pretend that the trap was special to him. “I know it happens a lot in our sport. You have huge wins and then eventually you go down and you don’t play as well the next game. It’s definitely happened to me before. I feel like it’s happened to everybody.”
Consolidation is not complete. Shelton plays Alexander Zverev in Sunday’s final, having lost all five of his previous meetings and seeking to become the first American to win a major since Andy Roddick in 2003.
