“Overrated AF!” – Ben Shelton, who was projected to be the next Roger Federer, gets mercilessly bashed for losing to Taro Daniel before Australian Open

Taro Daniel beat Ben Shelton 7-5, 7-6(9) in the semi-final of the 2024 ASB Classic.

“Overrated AF!” – Ben Shelton, who was projected to be the next Roger Federer, gets mercilessly bashed for losing to Taro Daniel before Australian Open

Ben Shelton (L), Taro Daniel (R) (Sources: Imago)

Ben Shelton suffered a disappointing defeat against Japanese tennis player Taro Daniel in the semi-final of the ASB Classic today.

The American was the top seed in the tournament and was one of the favorites to lift the trophy. Thus, his loss against World No. 64 came as a shock to everyone. 

YouTube video

Shelton’s road to the semi-final was fairly easy, as he received automatic advancement (bye) to the Round of 16.

He won both of his first two matches against Fabian Marozsan and Roberto Carballes Baena, respectively, in straight sets but failed to repeat the same against Daniel. The Japanese, who had to play the qualifiers unlike Ben Shelton, won the match 7-5, 7-6 (9).

Ben Shelton’s performance in the Brisbane International was also not that great. He lost to Roman Safiullin in the Round of 32, i.e., his first match in the tournament, and got eliminated.

The American featured in these two tournaments ahead of the Australian Open 2024 to get some match fitness but things did not go as expected for the youngster, as he will now head into the Grand Slam with an obvious lack of confidence. 

The 21-year-old had his breakthrough year in 2023 when he reached the semi-final of the US Open. Although he lost to Novak Djokovic and failed to make it to the final, Shelton impressed everyone with his journey and proved his mettle.

Unfortunately, he has not been able to keep up that performance in the tournaments that followed. 

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Netizens bash Ben Shelton after his loss against Taro Daniel 

Ben Shelton was heavily bashed by netizens on social media after his loss in the semi-final of the ASB Classic. Following his performance in 2023, some fans started comparing Shelton to Roger Federer.

The downside of being compared to the greats is that when the player performs poorly, the criticism received is often a bit too much. And Ben Shelton’s situation is no different. 

Ben Shelton
Ben Shelton (Source: Nine’s Wide World of Sports)

Fans have started calling the youngster overrated on social media, and they are calling out the people who had projected him to be the next Federer. 

Shelton might face Novak Djokovic in round 4 of the Australian Open if things go right. A fan also claimed that he has no chance against the Serb if he keeps on playing like this. 

If Shelton plays like things in R4 vs Novak(healthy) at #AusOpen he stands no chance.  Doesn’t seem super sharp coming out of the off-season, not sure why.
He wrote on X

Sharing a wide spectrum of reactions online, here’s what fans have to say:

https://twitter.com/ATennisPro10/status/1745645016725303424
https://twitter.com/CompartmentNo6/status/1745629494872850653

Indeed, the player will have to improve a lot if he is to perform well at the Australian Open. Ben Shelton must redeem himself in the upcoming Grand Slam if he wants to silence his haters. 

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