Novak Djokovic imitated Ben Shelton’s now-iconic phone celebration after defeating the American at the US Open. The second seed survived a tight third set to advance to the final with a 6-3 6-2 7-6(4) victory. And he marked the victory by putting his hand to his ear in a phone shape like Shelton did in his previous matches.
Djokovic advanced to a record-equalling 10th US Open final on Friday as he defeated the last American standing in Ben Shelton. The 20-year-old was playing in his maiden Grand Slam semi-final and started causing some trouble in the third and final set when he came from a break down to force a tiebreak.
The world No 47 had been dazzling crowds in Flushing Meadows throughout the fortnight with his huge serves, his thrilling shots and his entertaining celebrations – including his ‘dialled in’ phone move. Shelton had been pantomiming using a landline phone and hanging it up after his victories.
And Djokovic trolled the young American after beating him on Friday, also putting his hand into the shape of a phone and hanging it up in front of the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd.
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Shelton used the move after defeating Aslan Karatsev in the third round and again when he upset countryman and 10th seed Frances Tiafoe in the quarter-final. But it was Djokovic who got to celebrate when he ended the world No 47’s fairytale run in the semi-final.
The 20-year-old had explained the meaning behind the celebration following his win over Tiafoe, confirming that he did use a landline phone when he was younger. “Yeah, so our home phone, when I was growing up in Atlanta, was one like that. If I wanted to talk to my friends or call their home phone, see if they wanted to go outside and throw a football, that was what I did,” he said.
“But for me it’s kind of like I’m saying I’m dialled in. That’s what it is for me.” Shelton also revealed that he wasn’t the creator of the phone gesture and shared the inspiration behind it.
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He added: “You know, the first time that I really saw it is I’m really close friends with a lot of track and field athletes who train at the University of Florida where I live in Gainesville. One in particular, Grant Holloway, who’s won the World Championships I think three times in a row now, that’s kind of his signature thing. He loves doing this when he wins, and a lot of other athletes on the team kind of started doing it after too.
“He just won the World Championships, so congrats to him. Give him a little shout-out when I do this. Something that connects me to my friends back home.” And it’s Djokovic who has now jumped on the trend as he booked his spot in the final to face either Carlos Alcaraz or Daniil Medvedev.
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