Ben Shelton shares Australian Open organizers reaction to his criticism of post-match interviews during tournament
ATP
Following his semifinal loss at the 2025 Australian Open, rising tennis star Ben Shelton has opened up on whether the tournament organizers have reached out to him following the American's criticism of their on-court interviews.
Shelton put on some of the best performances of his career to reach the semifinals at Melbourne park. However, the 22-year old was unable to overcome a determined Jannik Sinner, as the defending champion prevailed in three sets in their final four encounter on Friday.
The situation seems to be resolved, according to Shelton
Prior to his showdown with Sinner, Shelton criticized the Australian Open for the brand of questions asked during on-court interviews with players. This stems back to when he was told that Gael Monfils, whom Shelton defeated en route to the semifinals, was "old enough to be his dad." Furthermore, it was implied that he would not have many fans on his side if he played Jannik Sinner or Alex de Minaur in the semifinals.
“I feel like broadcasters should be helping us grow our sport and help these athletes who just won matches on the biggest stage enjoy one of their biggest moments,” said Shelton after his quarterfinal win. “I feel like there’s just been a lot of negativity. I think that’s something that needs to change."
After his loss to Sinner, the Atlanta native was asked if the organizers of the Australian Open had reached out to him regarding his comments.
“Yeah, they were very, like, Well we’re going to have some talks," replied Shelton. "I forget the guy’s name who I talked to. But people have been understanding, supportive of what I said, I guess. It’s not like anything was just that, that bad – especially to me. It was just kind of the cumulative stacking up of incidences is kind of what I saw.
“Haven’t seen anything since. I don’t know if you guys saw anything since, but I thought it’s been pretty good the last couple days but no-one’s really come up to me about it after that press conference."