Novak Djokovic defeated Ben Shelton in the semifinal of the 2023 US Open, but his victory celebration didn't sit too well with a large section of fans.
Tennis fans on social media were completely divided, with the majority of them expressing fury and disapproval of Djokovic mocking his vanquished opponent's celebration. At the US Open, Shelton, pioneered the celebration, portraying picking up an imaginary telephone call and hanging up on his opponent.
After his quarterfinal victory over Frances Tiafoe, Shelton manifested the celebration, which Djokovic mimicked after downing the 20-year-old in the semifinal. The US Open official handle on X (formerly known as Twitter) immediately shared the video, much to the dissatisfied watching fans.
The short clip which has since garnered close to five million impressions on X has received a myriad of comments, with many fans rebuking Djokovic's actions. One fan felt Djokovic was 'a bit disrespectful' in his post-match celebration.
Another fan gave Djokovic a thumbs down, saying it was totally 'uncalled for'. The said fan explained the reason why Djokovic will always be a pantomime villain to the crowd saying, 'mocking Shelton's celebration is one of the reasons why he will never be as loved as he wants to be'.
'Stay classy Novak', one fan commented, conspicuously unhappy by the Serbian's celebration. 'Completely unnecessary,' another fan said, and added that Djokovic should 'learn from Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal how to handle greatness'.
Other fans saw the funny side of it, calling it hilarious, and some added that Djokovic finally hang up the phone on Shelton's Cinderella run at his home Slam.
Despite overwhelming negative reactions, there were quite a number of heartwarming responses, with one fan in particular arguing that Djokovic is the greatest player of all time and has earned the right to do what he wants.
Nonetheless, Shelton wasn't all too fussed about it during his post-match press conference, and in fact, he wasn't aware that Djokovic copied his celebration until after the match. The second-seeded Djokovic who will play Daniil Medvedev in the final confessed to copying the young American's celebration.
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