“Ben Shelton Needed to Get Schooled”: Novak Djokovic Justified After ‘Evidence’ of American’s Disrespect at US Open Fans Believe

Novak Djokovic defeated Ben Shelton in straight sets to advance to the US Open final. The game, characterized as a clash of generations, drew a lot of attention because the American teenager faced Djokovic, who is 16 years his senior. Djokovic cruised to victory and even copied Shelton’s phone call celebration on court. Unsurprisingly, this has sparked a controversy among tennis enthusiasts.

Many tennis stars and fans’ alike have expressed their opinion on Djokovic’s celebration. Some think it is all in good spirit while others debate that there was a hint of menace in Djokovic’s celebrations. A video has been circulating on social media which shows Shelton disrespecting his opponent and that has received mixed reactions.

The reason behind THAT celebration by Djokovic

Novak Djokovic won the semi-final against Shelton in straight sets and did the Americans famous ‘put down the phone’ celebration in front of him. The cold handshake at the nets suggested that Shelton was not happy with Djokovic’s antics.

Shelton is never the one to run away from controversies and with Novak Djokovic on his way to another straight sets triumph, the American delivered an incredible forehand winner to the joy of the fans. As he broke Djokovic’s serve for the first time, the American cuffed his palm to his ears and asked the fans for more noise.

The 20-year-old was even seen murmuring to himself that ‘He didn’t like that one’, after the Serb missed a backhand. This video surfacing on the internet have given fans another glimpse into the celebration controversy. Many fans’ are now on Djokovic’s side and think that the Serbian did well in teaching the young American a lesson.

Tennis stars and fans weighed in with their opinion about the same and majority of them were on the Serbian’s side.  With fresh evidence of Ben Shelton disrespecting Djokovic during the match, it is hard to make a case for the American.

Tennis stars’ react to Djokovic controversy

Various tennis stars like Nick Kyrgios, Emma Raducanu and Tommy Paul have reacted to the celebration controversy. Nick Kyrgios took to twitter to show his support to Djokovic and labelled his celebration as cold while Tommy Paul liked a post from ‘Bleacher Sports’ that had Djokovic imitating Shelton’s celebration. Meanwhile, Emma Raducanu posted a story of Djokovic imitating Shelton on her Instagram, which shows her incline towards the world number 1.

Talking in his post-match conference, Djokovic downplayed any menace and suggested that he stole Shelton’s celebration because ‘he liked it’.