Shelton's father reveals the advice Nadal gave them before the US Open

Ben Shelton has defeated Frances Tiafoe to make it to the final of the US Open, and to understand his success, one must look to his bench. There sits Bryan Shelton, his father, coach, and former tennis player, who has taken his son to the highest levels of the circuit to continue the family legacy. Bryan attended the press conference following Ben's most important career victory and revealed the advice that Rafael Nadal gave them before the tournament that helped them make the leap to the next level.

A few weeks ago, Shelton lifted the title at ATP Montreal for the second consecutive year. However, just a few days later, he suffered a dramatic loss in his debut at Cincinnati against Jaime Faria, which halted his good streak. That's when Bryan spoke with Rafa, who gave them advice that Ben took as a lesson so it wouldn't happen again in the future. After defeating Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals of the US Open, emotions were running high, but the American managed to maintain his composure to reach his first Grand Slam final and try to make history for his country this Sunday against Alexander Zverev.

Shelton's father analyzes the victory over Tiafoe

I thought it was a fantastic match. You know, it was one of those contests where he didn't have the start he wanted; he lost his serve... I think he got broken towards the end of the set. But Ben has shown great resilience, and I think the most rewarding thing for me, as a coach and father, is seeing how he has faced adversity throughout the tournament; how he managed to elevate his level, get going quickly in the second set, and turn the match around.

I thought it was truly impressive. Also, the way he maintained concentration throughout the match. There were many long games with Frances serving, and he kept pushing again and again, staying solid at all times. Frances did a good job to come through some of those games and extend the sets, but I think Ben showed great resilience early on and stayed focused for the rest of the match.

Experience as a tennis player to help his son

His goal has always been to reach the decisive stages of these tournaments, as he mentioned after the match. He wants to be playing on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays in these events. Achieving it here, at the US Open, and playing on the final day... is something almost surreal for this kid. He never even imagined he would dedicate himself to this sport; and seeing him now where he is... it's hard to believe, really hard to believe, and I feel extremely grateful.

Importance of Bryan's mother for both their careers

Yes, I grew up in Alabama. I won't go too much into that. She was an exceptional woman who provided her children opportunities to pursue what they were passionate about; for me, I was passionate about playing tennis from a young age. She supported me in that. My father did too, albeit reluctantly, because, you know, we were lower-middle class and there wasn't much money to try to reach a high level in this sport. It’s very expensive. My mother made the necessary sacrifices to make it possible. I won't go into details, but it wasn't easy.

Furthermore, the fact that she could influence Ben and my daughter Emma's lives was wonderful; she was able to instill the same principles and values in them that she instilled in me. It's very comforting that Ben recognizes it tonight. It's been a tough year for us: losing her and also my coach and mentor, Bill Tym, in the same year; losing the two people who, along with my father, had the most influence on my life and my children's lives. It has been a difficult year, but there have also been many blessings and many good things, like tonight.

Bryan Shelton talks about the changes to beat Zverev for the first time

Ben has been evolving in the right direction throughout this year. The four titles won on different surfaces are proof of that. I think it's partly because he has gained maturity and discipline on the court. He is willing to suffer a bit during exchanges, to extend points and to really make the most of his athletic ability. Gabe Echevarría, his physical trainer, and he got to work after Wimbledon. Loss in the first round at Wimbledon was a bitter pill, but Ben didn't crumble. He just got to work under the Florida heat and completed some incredible weeks of training. I think he is now seeing the fruits of that effort.

Visualization for reaching the later rounds of tournaments

We definitely set those goals because they are things that motivate him. He likes to think about his position in the race for Turin. He likes to see how his ranking is. He is competitive with each and every one of the players on the circuit. He gets along with all of them, but, wow, he is tremendously competitive. So those things serve as stimulation for him. We present those challenges, and he has an impressive track record on Sundays. I don't want to jinx it, but if you look at his history, you will see that he has always played well on Sundays. That’s where he wants to be. He feels he will showcase his best tennis at the end of the week, or at the end of the two weeks. I'm very glad he has options in the US Open.

Shelton's improvement on return

Tactically, he now understands what it means to return. Ben came to the circuit and everything happened very quickly; his game was not fully formed. And it's still not. Many of these guys arrive here with a very solid game, but Ben was not like that. The return was a weak point, as was the understanding of how to tactically approach the return. He knows how to change position based on the serve he receives. He knows where to position himself on the forehand side and where on the backhand side.

That is the starting point. Additionally, he knows what he aims to achieve with the return. That's why I think the most important thing is to have that understanding; then, you need to accumulate repetitions. I am fortunate enough to keep serving. Many days, I throw between 400 and 500 serves of all kinds, so he accumulates a lot of repetitions throughout the year and the season. He practices the return every day he trains and also on match days; over time, he is improving little by little. It’s like a tortoise: over time, he gets better and better.

Maintaining focus after beating Alcaraz

One learns from their experiences. There was a positive side to that bad experience: he won in Montreal and then went to Cincinnati; we mentioned that playing against Faria in the first round of Cincinnati — right after winning a title — was going to be the hardest day for him. Very few people manage to bounce back from something like that and have a good tournament the following week; he didn’t do it, you know? He lost in the first round.

I remember talking to Rafa a couple of days after that match. I called him, and we were chatting. Rafa told me: “You have to be able to get past that first match, have the day off, and then come back to play your best tennis the following week.” So it was a lesson for Ben: one must know how to bounce back when good things happen, just as when adversity arises or difficult moments occur. 

We talked about his victory against Carlos and how important it would be for him to understand that tonight's match was going to be even tougher — precisely because he had to recover from the previous one — since many people want to rest and celebrate after achieving something positive. What we say is: don’t celebrate until you’ve distanced yourself from the rest; you have to win the next match. Success must be consolidated. Then, hopefully next week, we can celebrate a little.

This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, El padre de Shelton desvela el consejo que les dio Nadal antes del US Open