Nick Kyrgios agrees with Darren Cahill’s comparison of Ben Shelton to him and his assertion following Shelton and Novak Djokovic’s US Open match was appropriate. Djokovic did the phone celebration on Shelton in the US Open semifinal after winning in three sets. That style was Shelton’s trademark throughout the competition.
Earlier, Darren Cahill compared Djokovic with Kyrgios and said: “He’s like Kyrgios, you like Kyrgios, you hate him, I don’t care. On the tour, he brings something different and people will go out and buy a ticket, and watch these guys play.”
Ben Shelton’s father criticized Djokovic for mocking his son and said: “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.”
Kyrgios replied to this statement and wrote on Twitter: “So what? Sport is entertainment. We aren’t robots. More people spoke about the celebration than the match.”
SO WHAT?!?!? SPORT IS ENTERTAINMENT. WE AREN’T ROBOTS. MORE PEOPLE SPOKE ABOUT THE CELEBRATION THEN THE MATCH 😂 https://t.co/SIWS7WRb6O
— Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) September 15, 2023
Nick Kyrgios in 2023
Now ranked no.472, the Australian played his last match on the 13th of June when he was overcome by world no.98 Yibing Wu 7-5 6-3 in the 1st round in Stuttgart (draw).
Presently, during this year Nick has a 0-1 match record.
Ben Shelton in 2023
Now the world no.19 (career-high), Shelton played his last match on the 8th of September when he lost to world no.1 Novak Djokovic 6-3 6-2 7-6(4) in the semifinal of the U.S. Open (draw).
Currently, during this year Shelton has an overall 19-23 win-loss record. Ben Shelton’s best achievement of the current year was getting to the semifinal in the Cagliari Challenger and at the U.S. Open.
Shelton is expected to play next in Beijing (China Open). He is currently an alternate. The main draw will start on the 28th of September.
Nick Kyrgios and Ben Shelton have never faced off.
Nick Kyrgios and Ben Shelton |
| Embed from Getty Images |
