"You have to break the sidelines to get to his backhand" - The tactical advice Ben Shelton received from his dad against Auger-Aliassime

Former British number one Tim Henman disclosed what advice Ben Shelton had received from his dad and coach, Bryan, in his damaging 4-6, 7-6(7), 7-5 defeat to Felix Auger-Aliassime at the ATP Finals.

The world number five came into the event on debut with huge aspirations of challenging the best, but his dreams of achieving these lofty ambitions all come down to a showdown against Jannik Sinner in the final group match. He needs to beat the imperious number two if he has any chance in progressing.

Both players relied heavily on their serve throughout. Aside from three breaks in the first set, just one other break came throughout the rest of the match. Crucially, that was Auger-Aliassime wrapping up the match. Shelton also hit a double-fault to concede the second set in regrettable moments from the 23-year-old.

Henman was closely watching proceedings of the tie in Turin. As the match went into a third set, Auger-Aliassime kept pestering Shelton, becoming a problem with his upturn in form on the court, finding a purple patch of consistency.

“I was watching Auger-Aliassime closely because he can suddenly miss by eight or 10 feet. I asked the question, 'why is that?' It’s not technical, I don’t know if sometimes he gets a little bit nervous. But when you have been able to come through a lot of matches and big matches against big players in big tournaments, it gives you the belief. There were times where he definitely upped his consistency in the third set.

Henman was following the Shelton camp very closely. Bryan Shelton was heard barking orders and tactical advice to his son, which Henman picked up. "We heard Ben Shelton’s Father and coach, Bryan, saying he is hitting too many forehands. 'Auger-Aliassime is hitting too many forehands, you have to break the sidelines to get to his backhand,' which as a left-hander you can do.

In the end, the American could not use it to get the upper hand as Auger-Aliassime registered a hugely important win. “But there is no doubt, and you can see by his reaction of Auger-Aliassime and his team once he got over the line, what this meant to him,” the Brit said.

While it is pain for Shelton, it is triumph for his opponent. In Auger-Aliassime's first appearance at the ATP Tour Finals since 2022, he has managed to pick up a crucial win to keep his hopes and dreams of progressing into the semi-finals firmly on.

He had certainly impressed Henman in Turin. "When you reflect on the semifinals at the US Open, he was a set all with Sinner, and the second set was highly impressive tennis," he said looking back to his semi-final run at Flushing Meadows. “He has backed it up into the Autumn and played brilliantly in Paris to get to the final, and came up against Sinner again."

“He is trending in the right direction. He has been trending this way in the past and then had some dips in form, but I think now he has far greater experience and understanding, so a stronger platform to build from not just this week but into 2026.”

There should be no surprise the Canadian is performing to a high level on this surface. It is a setting that he has favoured over the years, having won seven of his eight titles on it. The most recent one came in the European Open in a very tight matchup against the Czech number one Jiri Lehecka. He will be hoping to continue his upward trajectory and be consistently challenging the top players in the world. He will be hoping to take this into his final group match against Alexander Zverev, which will likely be a straight shootout to join Sinner in the seni-finals.