Ben Shelton Hits Back At Criticism After Debuting New Celebration In Munich

Ben Shelton won a thrilling battle in the opening round of the 2025 Munich Open. However, many focused more on his celebration afterward.

Although clay is not Shelton's best surface, he was a significant favorite to beat Borna Gojo in Germany. The Croatian is ranked outside the Top 400 after a long injury lay-off in 2024.

Gojo significantly outperformed his ranking against Shelton. He won the opening set and was not broken throughout the match, but narrowly lost out to the American in two tiebreaks in the second and third sets.

Shelton decided to mark the victory with a celebration he had never done before. The 2025 Australian Open semifinalist stepped back onto the court, placed a finger to the bottom of his nose, and then put two fingers beside his ear.

Rather than see the humor in the celebration or understand its meaning, many social media fans derided Shelton for being arrogant and going over the top after winning in the opening round.

One comment on Tennis TV's video of the celebration, which can be watched below, thought it was embarrassing for Shelton to celebrate like that after narrowly beating the world No. 406.

Many other comments expressed a similar sentiment. Noticing the response, Shelton also replied to Tennis TV's video, saying the unhappy fans did not realize a Bayern Munich Football Club player inspired the celebration.

Shelton's celebration was an attempted copy of Bayern Munich star Michael Olise's when he scores a goal. The ATP star's version was not exactly the same, with Olise putting his finger on his ear rather than beside it.

Although the clarification enlightens those who did not know the inspiration for it, some who thought he was being over the top after the win will unlikely change their opinion based on what influenced the move.

Shelton often celebrates after winning matches. The American pretended to hang up the phone when he triumphed at the 2023 US Open, although that celebration was memorably thrown back at him in the semifinal.

Novak Djokovic was enraged by Shelton and his team's actions during the contest, feeling they did not show the necessary respect. That led to the Serbian mimicking the celebration after beating him in straight sets.

There have been two other notable instances of Shelton angering opponents. At the 2025 Mexican Open in February, David Goffin was left furious when Shelton shouted in delight after the Belgian shanked a forehand into the air.

Goffin used his annoyance positively. After winning the next point, he deliberately mimicked Shelton's shouting and went on to win the match. Goffin also defeated Carlos Alcaraz at the 2025 Miami Open.

More recently, Shelton mocked one of his doubles opponents at the 2025 Monte Carlo Masters as "so soft" after he complained about the 22-year-old repeatedly targeting his body during the match. Shelton told him it was part of tennis and offered no apology.