One question already raised about Ben Shelton and Juan Carlos Ferrero’s new coaching partnership

Many are excited by the new partnership; however, others have raised questions. Multiple Grand Slam champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov was quick to point out a potential issue that could affect Ferrero and Shelton next year.

Yevgeny Kafelnikov says one of Ben Shelton and Juan Carlos Ferrero will be forced to make sacrifices

Firstly, Kafelnikov questioned how Ferrero would approach changing Shelton’s game. The 52-year-old is concerned Ferrero may try to convince his new pupil to play a ‘Spanish’ style of tennis.

“The biggest question would be if there is a certain stereotype that Shelton has. His game is an aggressive style of play, with his serve. He does not put the emphasis on playing at the baseline, and Ferrero was the champion of Roland Garros,” said Kafelnikov on the latest episode of ‘Hardcourt‘ (translated from Russian).

“Indeed, the Spanish school is formed in such a way that your foundation is playing from the baseline. Will he now restructure Shelton’s game, focusing more on the baseline? I think this would be a mistake.

“You do all this; it’s the same as, roughly speaking, Daniil Medvedev telling him to play serve and volley every point. You’re not going to rebuild Shelton; you won’t make a Spaniard out of him, and there is no need to do it. He has his own arsenal; he has something to play with, something to win with.”

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Kafelnikov then brought up a potential logistical issue that could cause friction between Shelton and Ferrero.

“Another thing is how you balance all this. What conditions did they agree on? How many weeks does he travel? Does he just travel to tournaments, or does he actually do painstaking work with him the entire season, for roughly 30 weeks?” asked Kafelnikov.

“For this, you need to travel there and live in America. I don’t think that Shelton will now move to Valencia, to the Juan Carlos Ferrero Academy, and spend time there. I don’t know who in this tandem is ready to make sacrifices.”

Alcaraz trained in Spain with Ferrero during their time together, but Shelton is known to practice in Orlando, Florida, when he’s out of competition. Only time will tell who will move when they begin their coaching relationship this off-season.

Elena Dementieva wasn’t surprised to see Ben Shelton hire Juan Carlos Ferrero

Former Olympic gold medalist Elena Dementieva was also keen to share her thoughts on Shelton and Ferrero’s partnership.

“I read many reactions where people were surprised, it seems to me, on the contrary, everything is logical. Shelton himself has said many times that he wants to improve his game on clay. His game really isn’t suited to this surface, it is much easier and simpler for him to play on fast hard courts or on grass,” she said.

“It seems to me that Juan Carlos, like no one else, is a clay specialist. He [Ben Shelton] has some very clear strengths: his serve, his forehand, his shots, his net approaches, but he has this kind of over-emotionality that maybe prevents him from playing long rallies. He has, let’s say, a limited two-handed backhand; there is still room for work and improvement, and I think Juan Carlos will definitely help him with this.”

Shelton will have Ferrero in his corner next year, but won’t want to get too far ahead of himself. This week, he’s competing at the Paris Masters and will play Arthur Rinderknech in the third round on Thursday, November 5. He’ll then head over to Turin for the ATP Finals.

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