Australia’s tennis star Nick Kyrgios believes Ben Shelton's father's comments were unnecessary regarding Serbia’s Novak Djokovic’s celebration after winning the US Open 2023 semifinal.
The current world number one copied the celebration of the young American after beating him in the last-four clash in the fourth and final Grand Slam of the year with a score of 6-3, 6-2, 7-6.
That celebration did not go down well with Shelton’s father who claimed that the legendary tennis player mocked his son.
“He wants to be loved so much, Novak... he wanted to mock Ben at the end. It wasn’t something he was doing just to copy Ben. It was to mock him. And that’s too bad, for that to come from such a great champion,” said Bryant Shelton.
Kyrgios, in a post on social media platform X—previously known as Twitter—expressed his views and suggested that those comments were unnecessary.
The 28-year-old has been struggling with fitness concerns and it was because of this reason he ended up missing all four Grand Slams this year.
On the other hand, Djokovic’s journey in the competition did not end after outclassing Shelton as he went on to defeat the current world number three Russia’s Daniil Medvedev in the final in straight sets as well with a score of 6-3, 7-6, 6-3.
It was Djokovic’s 24th Grand Slam triumph and fourth US Open title—first since 2018.
SO WHAT?!?!? SPORT IS ENTERTAINMENT. WE AREN’T ROBOTS. MORE PEOPLE SPOKE ABOUT THE CELEBRATION THEN THE MATCH 😂
Ben Shelton’s father on Djokovic: “He wants to be loved so much, Novak. He wanted to mock Ben at the end. It wasn't something he was doing just to copy Ben. It was to mock him. And that's too bad, for that to come from such a great champion” Source: GQ Sports 🗣️ 📸 Eurosport
