Ben Shelton liking a post about Novak Djokovic mocking him with his ‘phone celebration’ causes a stir on social media

Novak Djokovic beat Ben Shelton in straight sets in the 2023 US Open semi-final.

Ben Shelton liking a post about Novak Djokovic mocking him with his ‘phone celebration’ causes a stir on social media

Novak Djokovic and Ben Shelton (Credits Imago)

20-year-old American Ben Shelton‘s dream run at the US Open was ended by the 23-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic in the semi-final of US Open 2023 on Friday at the Arthur Ashe Stadium. The 2nd seed defeated the southpaw 6-3,6-2,7-6(4) to make his 10th US Open and 36th Grand Slam final overall. Perhaps the highlight of the match came after the match as Djokovic pulled off Shelton’s pet ‘Dialed-in‘ celebration.

Shelton wasn’t too amused by the celebration and gave Djokovic a death stare alongside a frosty handshake. Speaking about the 2nd seed’s celebration in the post-match press conference, Shelton said, “I didn’t see it until after the match. I don’t like when I’m on social media and I see people telling me how I can or can’t celebrate. If you win the match you deserve to do whatever you want. As a kid growing up, I always learned that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.”

YouTube video

Indicative of Shelton’s disappointment with Djokovic’s act, the American liked a post critical of the Serbian on the social media site ‘X’. The post shared by the user @gasparlanca was captioned, “It didn’t start against Tiafoe, it wasn’t meant as a disrespect towards Tiafoe. It’s just an ordinary celebration from a 20-year-old (playing his 1st Grand Slam SF) mocked by a 36-year-old (playing his 47th Grand Slam SF).”

Djokovic was asked about his celebration after the victory in the post-match press conference. “I just love Ben’s celebration, I thought it was very original. I copied him, I stole his celebration,“ the newly crowned world no.1 said.

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Fans on social media irked by Ben Shelton liking a post critical of Novak Djokovic

ben shelton us open
Ben Shelton (Credits:USTA)

Fans on the social media site ‘X’ called out Ben Shelton for liking a post that was critical of Djokovic for ‘mocking’ the young American’s celebration. Fans warned Shelton that respect has to be earned in tennis.

Earlier, tennis stars including Emma Raducanu and Nick Kyrgios backed Djokovic for hitting the ‘phone celebration’. Kyrgios shared a video of Djokovic’s celebration and captioned it ‘Cold’.

Sharing a wide variety of reactions, tennis fans on ‘X’ posted :

Shelton would not want to dwell too much on the controversy as he prepares for the start of next season. The American would hope to replicate his hard-court Grand Slam performance this year next season.

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