Ben Shelton and his Laver Cup team-mates are planning to bring back his famous phone celebration that caused a stir at the US Open. The 20-year-old mimicked using a phone and hanging it up during his wins over Frances Tiafoe and Aslan Karatsev in New York. And Novak Djokovic went on to use the celebration against the American when he beat him in the semi-final, leading Shelton’s dad and coach to claim that the world No 1 was “mocking” his son.
Shelton made waves during the final Grand Slam tournament of the year, for both his tennis and his other on-court antics. The 20-year-old hadn’t won back-to-back matches since his Australian Open quarter-final run in January. But he stormed into the semi-final of the US Open, upsetting his countrymen – 10th seed Tiafoe and 14th seed Tommy Paul – en route.
The world No 19’s phone celebration also caught attention and was recreated by several players, including Djokovic following their semi-final meeting. Lorenzo Musetti also pulled it out at the recent Davis Cup. And Shelton is planning to bring the celebration back at this weekend’s Laver Cup.
Along with his fellow World teammates Tommy Paul and alternate Christopher Eubanks, Shelton was asked whether any dialling and hanging up would take place on the bench. “For sure. The first 140 that comes up, I’m jumping up like this,” Eubanks replied.
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Paul was also up for recreating the celebration despite losing to Shelton at the US Open. He added: “Hell yeah, are you kidding me?” But the world No 19 was well aware that more players could recreate the move.
“But it’s gonna hurt if one of these guys clinches a match on my head and goes,” he said, gesturing the hanging up while also stomping on the floor. Paul responded: “We can’t let that happen.”
Shelton received some criticism for the celebration during the US Open as some speculated that it meant victory was calling and that it was disrespectful to his opponents. But he explained the original of the gesture after the quarter-final, revealing that it was a way to pay tribute to his friends from Florida – including three-time athletics world champion Grant Holloway.
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“For me it’s kind of like I’m saying I’m dialed in. That’s what it is for me,” he also said. And there was more uproar when Djokovic replicated the celebration after dispatching Shelton in the US Open semi-final. The American later said he didn’t see it until after the match.
“I don’t like when I’m on social media and I see people telling me how I can celebrate or can’t celebrate. You know, I think if you win the match, you deserve to do whatever you want. You know, 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,” he smiled in reaction. But Shelton’s father and coach Bryan wasn’t as impressed.
“He wanted to mock Ben at the end. It wasn’t something he was doing just to copy Ben. It was to mock him. And that’s too bad, for that to come from such a great champion,” Bryan – himself a former tennis pro – told GQ.
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