Ben Shelton continues to defend his actions despite opponent's claim of getting injured because of ball hit during Monte-Carlo Masters doubles clash

America’s Ben Shelton has once again defended himself for a confrontation with Andrea Vavassori during the Monte-Carlo Masters. The 22-year-old, who is regarded as one of most highly-talented players currently playing in men’s tennis, featured in the doubles category in the recently concluded ATP 1000 event with India’s Rohan Bopanna.

In the round of 16, they faced the pair of Vavassori and Simone Bolelli and came out on top with a score of 2-6, 7-6, 10-7. During the contest, Vavassori was hit on the chest by the ball hit by Shelton. He ended up confronting the American tennis star during the handshake after the match. Sheldon was clearly upset after being called out by his opponent and lifted his shirt, saying, “So soft.”

Things took an interesting turn as Vavassori withdrew from the Barcelona Open, claiming that he had a ‘rib injury’. “Sadly I have to withdraw from Barcelona next week due a rib injury (that) happened at the beginning of yesterday’s match. Exams showed a little infraction, so have to stop playing for some days,” he said at the time of withdrawal.

Shelton, who is taking part in the Barcelona Open, has spoken to The Tennis Channel as quoted in the report by English media outlet Daily Express where he doubled down on his ‘so soft’ comment. “Everybody on tour who knows me knows that I support the doubles guys more than anyone. I'm playing with the doubles guys three tournaments in a row, those are some of my favourite guys on tour,” he said. “For me, it was a normal tennis play. My shot was going in. I feel like getting hit is a normal part of doubles, and a few games later, his partner hit me 100 miles an hour in the middle of the chest. So, I didn't think that there was any issue with the way that I played and the way that it happened. I was kind of surprised that, after being [hit in] the second game, and we played a whole match, he said that I was in the wrong at the handshake. Yeah, I'm going to keep doing me, and I know I didn't do anything wrong.”