Ben Shelton Calls 'BS' On Radar Gun Measuring His Serve At 159 MPH In Dallas
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Ben Shelton could have come off the court feeling incredibly excited at hitting a serve that was clocked at 159 mph. Instead, he dismissed the reading as nonsense.
Shelton possesses one of the most powerful serves ever seen in tennis. If anyone was going to come close to hitting one of the fastest serves in the sport's history, he is one of the best candidates to do it.
However, the American was not buying what the radar gun showed during his opening-round victory against Aleksandar Vukic at the 2025 Dallas Open, especially one that was calculated at 159 mph.
During a post-match interview with the Tennis Channel, he was adamant that the calculations were wrong when the presenter asked him about it after beating Vukic.
"It's not accurate. Yeah, BS gun. I hate to say it. Some of my serves were coming out as 59 miles an hour, others at 153. I think they were somewhere in the middle."
The fastest recorded serve ever was by Sam Groth during an ATP Challenger Tour event. It was measured at an extraordinary 163.7 mph, although many doubt that the radar gun at a tournament of that size was accurate.
John Isner, considered by some to be the greatest server in tennis history because of how good his first and second serve deliveries were, holds the record for the fastest recorded ATP Tour serve at an ATP Tour event, calculated at 157 mph. He achieved this at the 2016 Davis Cup.
That meant Shelton's 159 mph serve would have been the fastest serve in ATP Tour history, but he has moved swiftly to stop that being claimed by confirming the radar gun could not have been correct.
Shelton continued his positive form by beating Vukic in Dallas. That followed a run to the 2025 Australian Open semifinal, losing at that stage to the eventual champion Jannik Sinner in straight sets.
His answer about the radar gun continues a trend of Shelton being honest in interviews and press conferences. He also did that with some brutally cutting remarks about broadcasters at the Australian Open.
Shelton hit out at the broadcasters, especially host broadcaster Channel 9, for disrespecting the players. The most notable example was Novak Djokovic's 2022 deportation from Australia being mocked by Tony Jones, a Channel 9 presenter.
That was not the only case, though. Shelton pointed to a terrible post-match interview done with Learnier Tien after he beat Daniil Medvedev in the second round and an interviewer telling him that Gael Monfils could be his dad after their match in Melbourne.
Shelton seems like a nice person off the court. However, he is unafraid to speak his mind, which is unlikely to change throughout his career as an ATP star.
