Ben Shelton vs Stefanos Tsitsipas - Preview & Prediction - 2026 US Open Round 4

0:00Hey guys, and welcome back to the channel. We have Ben Shelton versus DeFanhas, it's passed for round four of the 2026 US Open. Should be a very interesting matchup. They've only played the one time before and that was three years ago, Steph did get the better of Ben in that one. It wasn't since then and it was a 7676 win. So as you can imagine, and we'll talk about this a little bit in more detail, both players are incredible servers when they are on their game. So we will discuss that. We'll discuss that to see how it might play out. And ultimately, I'll give you guys my prediction, of course. Before we do get into the detail though, if you do end up liking this video, please hit that like button. Also comment below who you think is going to win and why always interested to hear your guys' thoughts and also share with anyone who you think might find this interesting. On top of that, if you're new, do hit that subscribe button. We're going to have a whole host of US Open content coming your way. And if you're listening on a podcast platform, please do leave a rating or a review. Okay, let's get down to the nuts and bolts. So Benny Shelton has looked pretty good so far.

1:03He's had to battle as has Steph though. They've not come up against the easiest of opponents I have to be honest. And Shelton as the HC would have been expecting a pretty decent run to the fourth round. Instead, he got Greeks ball her catch and Shapa Valov in the first three rounds. Managed to win all of them in four sets. Definitely some battles in there though. That's for sure. I think the last two matches have been tough going in the sense that I think he's been quite even, but Ben's just done really well in the important points to come out clutch. And that's been a pretty good proponent of his game when it's coming to Grand Slam's. I know this year he's said he's been a little disappointed with his Grand Slam results, but generally speaking in his career so far, he's been pretty good when it's come to the Grand Slam's. For Sitsapas, he's been good because I don't think a lot of people expected him to get through that first round against Arthur Fees, a player who he had in losing five zero head to head with, but managed to come through that one in four sets in really impressive fashion after being a set

2:05and a breakdown. Then Beatleud Harris in four sets after losing the first set then. And then interestingly, he also lost the first set against Lehechka. Every single match he's lost the first set, but then he's come back to win. And the Lehechka win I think was impressive because Lehechka is dangerous. We know he's got weapons, but Steph nullified those in pretty impressive fashion. I'll discuss why I think he is going to be a dangerous opponent for Ben. I think Ben on paper is the favorite. He's playing at home. He loves playing at the US Open. His results have been good at the Slam generally. I think a lot of people think he's going to go deep. Steph historically hasn't actually played very well at the US Open, which is interesting because he's had very good results at the Australian Open. And yes, the US Open is a little bit slower, but it's pretty similar, I'd say, in terms of the court speed and conditions to the Australian Open, I would say. And he's made a final multiple semi-finals there. He hasn't made it past the fourth round, I think, from memory at the US Open. If he were to beat Ben, he'd have a career best performance,

3:08even if he were to lose the next match at the quarter final stage. So in terms of tactically what's important, well, I mentioned the serve and we can talk about that because Steph has hit 12, 15 and 14 aces in every single match so far. So he's been around the 12 to 15 range. And you have to bear in mind, they both played four set matches in all three matches. So now they've played so far. So it's comparable. For Shelton, he hit 12 aces, 14, sorry, 12, six. And then 14 again, Shapa Velova. Now, I want to take these with a little bit of a pinch of salt because it doesn't account for unreturnable serves. If an opponent gets a racquet on it, it doesn't count as an ace. So then I want to take your attention to first, so 0.1. 86% for Ben, then he hits 73% against her catch and 73% against Shapa Velova, all pretty solid numbers. Steph was at 70% against Fees, but then 81% against Harris and 72% against LeHechka.

4:12Both players backing up their first, so pretty impressively. Well, at least in a solid fashion, right? I think anything above 70% is good going. And the second serve points one, pretty good from both as well. I think what's going to be really key here, of course, is who's serving well on the day. That's going to be a massive factor. But I think it's also going to, in my opinion, I think what's going to be intriguing and interesting is how does Steph's one hand hold up against the Shelton lefty for hand because Shelton does flat out the full hand, yes. When he goes cross, he does hit with a lot of spin. I'm not saying he'd hit like rough on the dial, but what I'm saying is he does still hit with a lot of, oh, sorry, with a lot of spin. That means Steph is going to have to decide whether he backs up or takes the ball early on the rise. I think, given what we've seen so far, given the fact that he's trying to play grass tennis, I think he's going to try and take the ball on. I don't think he wants to be very far behind the baseline. It opens up Shelton coming to net

5:14and the drop shot as well. I don't think he wants to let Ben play around in the four court. He wants to try and avoid Ben having that much momentum in rallies. So I think what's going to be quite key for Steph is a couple of things. Now, the slice does look quite unauthorized from what I have to be honest. I've never been a massive fan of his slice. However, this tournament has been pretty serviceable. And I think that's going to be quite key against Ben because if he can slice effectively, even cross-core into the lefty forehand of Ben, it's going to be difficult. Ben doesn't find it easy whipping the forehand from angle height. If however, it's a floaty slice, he'll sit up, Ben will punish it. But if he manages to knife, that just get it, get it keeping low. That's not a stri-fin that Shelton's going to hit winner off. I don't think it's a shot that he's going to be very aggressive off either. I think that gives Steph an opportunity to mix up the pace, very, and also even defend it times with that shot. Going into the backhand wing is not a bad option with that slice, but I imagine that Shelton will hit another slice himself.

6:16But for Steph, I think he will handle the Shelton slice better into his forehand because his forehand I think is a bit more whippy when it comes to taking the ball. As if he's got a lower base. So he'll get lower. I think he will be in a good position to attack that slice. Shelton serve. Now it is difficult. And as I said, take the ace with a pinch of salt. The body serve is going to be difficult. And because this serve gets so hard to kick serve, into that backhand side, that backhand return is going to be tested to the limit, I think it's going to be very difficult for Steph to get up high to that jumpy ball. So the question is, what does he do? I think he needs to almost at times to just say, you know what? I'm going to go lob almost deep or potentially step in. But if he steps in, he has to take the ball early and have a very, very short back swing. So I think he might just have to sacrifice a bit of court coverage on the return. That is back up a couple of meters behind and just hope that he is able to take a full swing in it.

7:19And if he isn't and it's too good to serve, then he just puts his hands up and says, okay, fine, that's too good. By backing up though, it does open up Shelton's ability to come to net and utilize that forecourt in the plus one, whether that be a drop shot or volley. Steph's just going to have to accept that. But he's like, he's a good mover. When he's at this level, I think he moves well, he can defend pretty well. Shelton is incredibly athlete in his own right. And I think we will see some great ball striking from both players. I think Steph has to have a very good serve on forehand day and he needs to be moving well into in that backhand corner to try and make as many forehands as possible. If he can access that forehand side in the backhand corner by going into and into out, then he puts himself in a good position because it's into out forehand. It's actually very flat at times and he finds good angles that would drag Shelton out onto his lefty forehand, which is going to be awkward for him. We know that's attacking that a lot of players

8:19use against lefties. It's easy to say that and done and all the people used to say, oh, when you play around from the dial, just hit a very cute flat into out forehand and he will struggle because he's not going to be able to generate any sort of offense from his, from ankle high. It's going to be very awkward for him to get short of ball or you might get error from him. So much easier said than done, of course. And I don't see Shelton really utilize that shot as much. He might go into in with that forehand but not necessarily into out, but Steph defends a forehand corner pretty well with a forehand slice. I think in terms of prediction, it's a tough one to call. I think there's going to be a lot of pressure on Shelton. I think the good thing for Sitzbusters, he can go into it pretty carefree and it's a free hit really. I think it's going to be, I think it's going to be Sitzbass. I think I'll be Shelton, Shelton in four sets. I think Steph will put a very, very good fight in. I think there'll be some tight sets. I just, I think it's tough. The matchup I think doesn't really suit Steph that well, but let's see how it goes.

9:20Thanks very much guys. Stay safe, well, we'll see you next video.