Novak Djokovic, the world No. 1 in men’s tennis, has recently expressed criticism regarding the behavior of rising player Ben Shelton during the US Open. Djokovic, known for his candid assessments, did not shy away from addressing his concerns about Shelton’s conduct both on and off the court.

“As far as Shelton’s level of confidence and coming out, I don’t mind that actually at all. I think it’s great,” Djokovic commented after Shelton’s exit from the tournament. However, Djokovic also highlighted that there is an invisible line of acceptable behavior towards opponents, and if crossed, it becomes bothersome. The Serbian tennis star noted, “But there is obviously some kind of line, non-visible line, of acceptable behavior I guess towards the other player. If a player steps over that line, then obviously it starts being annoying. That’s when you react or you don’t react, whatever. It just depends.”

Djokovic’s remarks underscore the delicate balance between confidence and acceptable conduct in the world of professional tennis. As a veteran in the sport, his perspective adds an interesting layer to the ongoing conversation about player behavior and sportsmanship at major tournaments. The incident with Shelton provides further insight into Djokovic’s views on what constitutes acceptable behavior on the tennis court.

Djokovic at the Australian Open, ranking, and results in 2024

Now the world no.1, Djokovic has managed to achieve a compiled 5-1 record in 2024. Djokovic is now having a run at the Australian Open where he toppled the world no.187 Dino Prizmic 6-2 6-7⁵

6-3 6-4, the world no.43 Alexei Popyrin 6-3 4-6 7-6⁴ 6-3 and the world no.32 Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-3 6-3 7-6².

Novak Djokovic will square off with the world no.19 Adrian Mannarino in the 4^th round. The head to head is 4-0 for Djokovic.

The Serbian won 98 titles in his career: 52 on hard courts, 19 on clay courts, 19 on indoor courts and 8 on grass courts. (See the list of his titles)

He is also scheduled to play at the Wimbledon (Wimbledon) on the 1st of July and U.S. Open (U.S. Open) on the 26th of August.

Ben Shelton in 2024

At the moment ranked no.16, Shelton played his last match on the 19^th of January when he surrendered to world no.19 Adrian Mannarino 7-6(4) 1-6 6-7(2) 6-3 6-4 in the 3^rd round of the Australian Open (draw).

This season Shelton has a composed 4-3 win-loss record. Ben Shelton’s best result of the year was reaching the semifinal in Auckland.

Novak Djokovic and Ben Shelton faced off only on 1 occasion. The head to head is 1-0 for Djokovic. When they played, Novak Djokovic won 6-3 6-2 7-6(4) in the semifinal in New York (U.S. Open) in September 2023.

Here are the highlights.