Shelton throws shade at 'veteran' Fritz - all in good fun!

America’s young tennis star Ben Shelton has apologised to his Laver Cup teammate Taylor Fritz after calling him a ‘veteran’. The two-team competition is underway in Berlin, Germany, where some of the top players in the world are participating to showcase their talent and secure the ultimate prize.

Shelton, who is part of the Team World, participated in the doubles category on Friday, where he and his partner Fritz defeated the pair of Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz and Germany’s Alexander Zverev with a score of 7-6, 6-4. After the win, Shelton spoke about how difficult it was to play in front of a packed crowd.

The young American star, while speaking about it, also highlighted the advantage of playing with someone like Fritz, who, according to him, is a Laver Cup ‘veteran’. “Yeah, I thought it was an intense atmosphere,” he said. “Every time there is a match at the Laver Cup, it feels intense with the teammates on the sidelines, pretty full stadiums, big crowds obviously for a doubles match than what we are usually used to. I think I got pretty used to it with the atmosphere last year at Laver Cup, playing some doubles matches in bigger moments, even though we were up big in the score. Yeah, Taylor is a Laver Cup veteran, or a vet in general, so I'm not too worried about him being prepared for anything out there. I'm not calling you old.”

In response to that, Fritz was offended and claimed that he was not as old to be called a ‘veteran’. "Vet, I don't know. I'm not that old," said Fritz. Shelton was quick to admit his mistake and apologised for it by stating: "Sorry, bro. That was out of pocket.”

In the other three matches on the day, which were all in the singles category, there were some interesting results. Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo defeated Norway’s Casper Ruud n straight sets with a score of 6-4, 6-4. Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas managed to get the better of Australia’s Thanasi Kokkinakis in straight sets with a score of 6-1, 6-4. In the third encounter, Belarus’ Grigor Dimitrov defeated Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo in straight sets with a score of 7-6, 7-6.