The father of Ben Shelton has fired a broadside at Novak Djokovic after the US Open champion imitated his opponent's signature celebration after successful their semi-final at Flushing Meadows. Unseeded Shelton demonstrated his true potential in New York by reaching the ultimate 4 of a Grand Slam for the primary time in his profession, earlier than he fell on the penultimate hurdle to champion Djokovic.

The 20-year-old prompted an upset by beating fellow American Frances Tiafoe within the quarterfinals 6-2, 3-6, 7-6, 6-2. After finishing his dramatic four-set victory, Shelton celebrated by making a phone form along with his hand earlier than holding it to his ear.

But when returning world No. 1 Djokovic defeated Shelton in straight units en path to the tenth US Open last of his profession, the Serb copied his opponent's new celebration on the court docket straight after clinching match level.

That appeared to anger Shelton's father, Bryan Shelton, who informed GQ Magazine: “He wanted to mock Ben at the end. It wasn’t something he was doing just to copy Ben. It was to mock him.”

Shelton Snr has performed a key position in his son's rise as coach of the Florida Gators workforce, which helped Ben to win the nationwide championship in 2021. He additionally clinched the NCAA males's singles title in 2022 whereas representing the Gators.

After beating Tiafoe, Shelton had defined to reporters that his cellphone celebration was his means of claiming that he was 'dialled in'. He additionally claimed it was a tribute to his buddy Grant Holloway who received his third consecutive 110-metre hurdles world title final month.

Despite the claims of Shelton's dad, Djokovic insists that his actions had been paying a praise to his quarter-final opponent.

Speaking in his post-match press convention, the 24-time Grand Slam champion stated: “I just love Ben’s celebration. I thought it was very original and I copied him. I stole his celebration.”

The imitation didn't seem to ruffle Shelton himself an excessive amount of. “I don’t like when I’m on social media and I see people telling me how I can celebrate or can’t celebrate," he told reporters, per the Los Angeles Times.

“I think if you win the match, you deserve to do whatever you want. As a kid growing up, I always learned that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so that’s all I have to say about that.”

But that view was not shared by his personal father, who doubled down on his 'mocking' declare by including: “That’s too bad, for that to come from such a great champion.”