For the Sheltons, there’s a player behind the player behind the player

A longstanding tennis adage goes that behind every player is another player. Certainly, rising American Ben Shelton will emphatically agree with this concept, particularly given all the ways he’s gained and continues to benefit from it. The 20th-ranked Shelton’s lifelong tennis journey has been guided by his father, Bryan, an accomplished pro and uniquely successful college coach.

Bryan’s pro career spanned from 1989-97. He reached a career-high ranking of 55 in 1992, twice took the singles title at Newport, and earned wins over Hall of Famers Andre Agassi and Michael Stich. Later, he became the first coach in NCAA Division 1 history to guide both a woman’s and men’s tennis squad to team championships. The first came at Georgia Tech in 2007, the second at the University of Florida in 2021. In June 2023, Bryan left his college job to travel full-time with Ben.

This month, Ben is in Asia for the first time, currently competing at the Rolex Shanghai Masters. Though completely dedicated to tennis these days, through the early stages of his childhood, Ben favored football over tennis. But once he committed to tennis, Bryan offered pointed and powerful guidance.

“I was asking my dad about playing some ITFs or playing outside the country [in the juniors] and he asked me if I was the best player in the United States,” Shelton said earlier this year. “I told him, ‘No, I’m not.’ And he said, ‘So why would we go to another country when you’re not the best player here?’”

The two continued their work at the University of Florida. Ben in time became coach Bryan’s star player, the son’s two years there capped with a run to the NCAA men’s singles title in 2022. Only this January did Ben travel outside of the United States.

But it’s not merely Bryan’s results as a coach and player that make him a credible source of expertise for his ambitious son. It was the way he went about the business of making himself a great player that best tells the Shelton story. According to a coach who knew him thoroughly, “Bryan Shelton possessed the highest level of self-discipline and mental resiliency of any student I’ve ever worked with.”

And here we reach another premise: If one player is the parent of another, in some instances there are even grandparents. In the Shelton family’s case, that wise elder who spoke so positively about Bryan is a longstanding coach named Bill Tym.

An excellent player who competed at Wimbledon and the US Open, Tym over the last 50 years has earned a reputation as one of the sport’s preeminent minds. His many credentials include several years as executive director of the USPTA (American tennis’ leading teaching organization), and a decade as the men’s head coach of Vanderbilt University.

Bryan was 13 when he began to work with Tym, a player-coach relationship that continued through juniors, college, and several summers together traveling the pro circuit. “He took the game to a whole new level for me,” Shelton wrote in a 2021 essay for USTA.com, “and everything that he taught on the court, he applied to life. I got an education on the tennis court, and everything that we did was a microcosm of life.”

Further reinforcement of the Tym-Shelton connection came when, the summer Ben was 14, Tym traveled with him, sister Emma, and mother Lisa to several junior tournaments.

“With Bryan sitting in his box,” says Tym, “and his mom Lisa along as well, I don’t see how Ben can miss.” Tym and Bryan remain in contact, exchanging frequent notes that address Ben’s progress and possibilities. Though Tym strongly points out that he is in no way an official coach these days for anyone in the Shelton family, the lessons he taught Bryan can’t help but surface.

Consider the most important shot in tennis, the serve. Tym had Bryan practice that shot 500 times a week, placing targets in various corners. Says Tym, “We’d call it the ‘million dollar serve.’ Each time he hit a target in the service box he was making a $10 deposit in his bank account, and it would continue to accumulate and grow with compound interest over the years to come.”

Ben’s serve is arguably his best shot. Certainly, it’s his most powerful. During the US Open, Shelton hit one clocked at 149 mph. Naturally, Tym is impressed by that speed, but at this point believes Shelton is still a diamond in the rough. “He needs more variation on his serve,” says Tym. “He’s pounding it down the T. But he needs to take that ball in the ad court and curl it up into the audience, as well! Right now he’s an outstanding fastball pitcher, but will need more variation and spin to be effective against the best pros who are not intimidated by power.”

In his opening match in Shanghai, a 6-4, 6-4 win over 82nd-ranked Jaume Munar, Shelton served brilliantly in the ad court to close out the match. At 5-4, 0-15, he carved a fine wide slice. Two points later, leading 30-15, he went wide again, opening up the court so proficiently that, as Munar scampered back to the middle, Shelton was in prime position to lace a crosscourt winner.

Tym also believes Ben can become more effective in the front part of the court, mostly by improving his blend of power, touch, and movement. “I’d like to see him become more comfortable hitting drop shots and serve and volley patterns in order to control the rhythm of play by shortening point play.” Though Shelton attempted several drop shots in his US Open semifinal loss to Novak Djokovic, they were hardly successful. Of course, it’s not easy for anyone to execute such a shot in that kind of situation. Still, the investment in such a tactic should in time pay off.

When it comes to net play, in a far more comfortable moment in Shanghai, holding match point versus Munar, Shelton served-and-volleyed decisively, his first volley struck deep and wide enough to elicit a lob that was then put away with a backhand overhead.

During his formative years, Tym came to know Australian Davis Cup captain Harry Hopman. What most impressed Tym was how the Australians treated tennis as a team sport, far more than the highly individualistic way Americans engage in practice, competition, and even friendship. Bryan relished that too. So naturally, Tym is impressed by Bryan’s mastery of the team environment—and how that is greatly aiding Ben’s growth as a pro.

“I watch from the background and I enjoy seeing it all happening,” says Tym. “I have every confidence with Bryan and Ben. It’s just a matter of time.”