“Obviously, he’s one of the best coaches in the world,” Ben Shelton said of new coach Juan Carlos Ferrero.
Richard PagliaroNovember 3, 20263 minute read
By Richard Pagliaro | Tuesday, November 3, 2026
Photo credit: Jon Buckle/ROLEX
Tennis tempests create calm in Ben Shelton.
US Open finalist Shelton brings the thunder on serve and says hiring former world No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero as new coach was product of a “perfect storm.”
The 46-year-old Ferrero, who coached Carlos Alcaraz to six of his seven major championships, joins Shelton’s father and coach, Bryan Shelton, on Team Shelton.
World No. 4 Ben Shelton told Tennis Channel’s Prakash Amritraj and Steve Weissman three main factors precipitated his hiring Ferrero.
The left-handed Shelton said he regards Ferrero as “one of the best coaches in the world,” he hopes to sharpen his clay-court skills working with the 2003 Roland Garros champion and believes both he and his father can learn from the 2003 US Open finalist.
“For me, I think obviously he’s one of the best coaches in the world,” Shelton told Prakash Amritraj on Tennis Channel after his 6-3, 6-4 win over Cameron Norrie in Paris today. “What he did with Carlos I thought was outstanding. Also, a guy that’s had a lot of success on clay courts which is what I’m trying to improve.
“For me, I think that it’s a unique situation where I have a parent-coach who’s willing to bring someone in who has no ego and both of us are really looking forward to being able to learn from Juan Carlos.
“For us, it’s the perfect storm. I’m happy to have him on the team and super excited to get to work in the offseason.”
The partnership came through a phone call. Shelton, who read reports of a potential Ferrero partnership with 20-year-old Spaniard Rafael Jodar, asked his agent to call the coach and assess his availability. Shelton and Ferrero then discussed the possible pairing and his game in a few phone calls before deciding to work together.
“I saw all the stuff online and I thought it was true too: I thought he was going with one of these young Spanish guys,” Shelton told Prakash Amritraj and Steve Weissman. “But I just reached out to my agent one day and said ‘Hey, can you at least hit the guy up or see if he’s available? Or if he already locked something in?’
“[Ferrero] ended up being available and we had some talks on the phone and that was kind of that.
“For me, I’m really looking forward to it. I think that he’s a great guy, we get a long well and hopefully we can have a big year next year.”
Now the question is can Ferrero, who briefly coached current No. 1 Alexander Zverev, help Shelton ride “the perfect storm” to end an American title drought?
Andy Roddick, who beat Ferrero in that 2003 US Open final, remains the last American man to raise a Grand Slam singles title trophy.
Two-time Canadian Open champion Shelton, who has won four titles this season, believes Ferrero can help him achieve his dream of mastering a major title.
