Tennis fan believes Ben Shelton's father being close to Federer has given a grudge against Djokovic after phone celebration seen as mocking

Tennis fans reacted to the criticisms from Ben Shelton's father against Novak Djokovic for his imitation at the US Open. One of the controversies of the recent US Open occurred after the semifinal between Novak Djokovic and the young star Ben Shelton, which ended in victory for the Serbian with a score of 6-3, 6-2, 7-6(4).

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In previous rounds at Flushing Meadows, Shelton celebrated his victories by making a phone call gesture, something that Djokovic imitated when he defeated the American, and many interpreted it as mocking his opponent. Bryan Shelton, Ben's father, shared his opinion on what 'Nole' did in an interview with GQ:

"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," Bryan Shelton said.

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Fans reacted to the statements made by Ben Shelton's father and took to Twitter to express their opinions, where one user suggested that the father might have a close relationship with Roger Federer.

"Ben is now the victim, of course. His father is closely related to Federer and can't stand Djokovic, and that's how he raised his son. Ben should look up to his peer Alcaraz who is Ben's complete opposite," the user wrote.

“Instead of thinking about what djokovic should or shouldn’t have done maybe they should ponder why so many people are finding his on court behavior so off putting that even a legend would feel moved to put him in his place? I mean this is not typical. He’s turning ppl off fast.”

Bryan Shelton was a nobody. Now with this performance of his son he feels he’s got a winner, dude first let the little brat win a 250 then talk big. What Novak did was awesome. We need more characters in tennis not robots.

Rohit Gill #2️⃣4️⃣ 🥇🐐

@sschumi007

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Replying to @christophclarey

Bryan Shelton was a nobody. Now with this performance of his son he feels he’s got a winner 😂 dude first let the little brat win a 250 then talk big. What Novak did was awesome. We need more characters in tennis not robots.

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“The @usopen is over. The phone business was in good fun. It‘s time for Ben to dig in an win titles. He has made two excellent runs in the slams. If he or his dad keep ruminating on that phone hang up, it’ll look like they are trying to hang on to their 15 minutes.”

Trudy Seivwright MD

@SeivwrightTrudy

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Replying to @christophclarey

The @usopen is over. The phone business was in good fun. It‘s time for Ben to dig in an win titles. He has made two excellent runs in the slams. If he or his dad keep ruminating on that phone hang up, it’ll look like they are trying to hang on to their 15 minutes.

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