Patrick McEnroe has analyzed Novak Djokovic's imitation of Ben Shelton's phone gesture at the US Open.

23-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic has been on very good form throughout the last major of the year in New York. The Serb has only dropped sets against one of his opponents so far, this being his compatriot Laslo Djere in the third round.

The 36-year-old has now reached the final, where he will face Daniil Medvedev. However, in order to get there, he ousted home player and rising talent Shelton in the semis. The Serb won the first two sets with relative ease, 6-3, 6-2. He then won the final set on a tiebreak, 7-6 (4).

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McEnroe approves of gesture

Following his win, Djokovic celebrated with a phone gesture that Shelton had performed after his quarter-final match against Frances Tiafoe. When the unseeded player took a surprise victory against his compatriot and tenth seed, he mimed picking up a receiver phone before hanging up. After the match, Shelton explained that it showed he was 'dialed in.'

However, the move was thrown back at him by Djokovic as the Big Three member secured a spot in his tenth final at Flushing Meadows. He received a large amount of backlash for the imitation, with some calling it unnecessary and disrespectful.

On the other hand, McEnroe expressed his approval of Djokovic's use of the gesture.

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"People commenting on the conclusion of the Djokovic-Shelton match. So let me say a couple of things about it. First of all, I love Shelton's attitude. I love what he brings to the table. I love his exuberance. And I love that he came to play in that third set.

"I also love what Djokovic did with the phone thing. I thought it was very funny. I thought it was also his way of sort of putting Shelton in his place as if to say, 'welcome to the big time.' Because let's be honest, Shelton had no chance to win the match," he said.

McEnroe added that the handshake between the two players at the end of the match, which has been described by several fans on Tennis Twitter as cold, was also a good thing.

"And the icy handshake, nothing wrong with that from both guys. This is what tennis needs. This is what people like to see. And I say, great job to both guys," he continued.