There were some words exchanged between Ben Shelton and Flavio Cobolli after their fourth-round match at the 2025 Canadian Open in Toronto.
Shelton and Cobolli share one thing, and that's their clothing sponsor. Both are On athletes, which means they know each other from some of their sponsors' events. This time, they were rivals, and they acted like rivals too.
It was a three-set battle, which Shelton ended up winning 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(1) to reach the quarter-finals of the ATP Masters 1000 event in Toronto. However, immediately after the match ended, it was clear that the American player wasn't happy about something that happened on the court, approaching the net for a handshake with an angry face.
Immediately as they shook hands, the two started discussing. Shelton seemed unhappy about a gesture Cobolli made during the third-set tie-break, which the Italian player explained was just a way to vent his frustration, not directed at Shelton.
It seemed that Shelton accepted his opponent's explanation, and both shook the umpire's hand and went to their chairs. But the discussion was not over.
With Shelton already in the process of changing his shirt, and Cobolli with his bag packed, the two started talking near the umpire's chair once again. The Italian player tried explaining to his opponent that even if his gesture had something to do with Shelton, he couldn't be mad.
According to Shelton, they were friends, which is why he didn't like it, but Cobolli explained that since the American himself is a player who likes to be loud on the court, he can't be angry if something similar happens on the opposite side of the net.
Since Cobolli is not a native English speaker, it seemed to be a bit challenging for him to clearly explain his position, especially with the emotions running high, but both eventually shook hands, with the umpire James Keothavong looking from up close.
Ben Shelton's response to tense exchange with Flavio Cobolli
After the match, Shelton was asked about the moment. It appeared that for the American player, the most crucial part was whether the gesture was directed at him or not.
"Yeah, we talked about it. He said it wasn't towards me. We're good. We talked about it in the locker room, so I'm not going to answer any more questions about that. There's no story, we're good, that's it, so, thanks."
Regardless of the words said and gestures shown, both players seemingly left the court on good terms. Of course, it's also important to mention that emotions were running incredibly high in a late-evening match that was decided in a third-set tie-break.
Ben Shelton ready for Alex de Minaur challenge ahead
While Cobolli will now travel to Cincinnati for the next ATP Masters 1000 event, Shelton will play his quarter-final match in Toronto against Alex de Minaur. He feels ready for the challenge, even though he is aware of the qualities of his upcoming opponent.
Yeah, he's a dawg. I'm ready for it. And for people who haven't heard that saying, that's a good thing (laughing). He's very fast. He's in a great rhythm, you saw what he did in DC. He's a great front runner, and you can never count him out when he's down."
"So I'm prepared for a war. I'm really excited. It's our first matchup. We've had some practice, some competitive practice sets. He puts it on the line in practice as well, that's one of the things that I love about him. Yeah, I'm really excited."
"I love playing against, you know, some of the best players in the world in late stages of tournaments, so that's the only thing that you can hope for, and what I always look forward to. He's playing amazing tennis. You guys saw it last week in DC. We saw some of the highlights of what he's done so far here. Yeah, I'm really enjoying and looking forward to that matchup."
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