Ben Shelton wants to be like Rafael Nadal weeks after Djokovic ‘mocked’ him

Ben Shelton shared his admiration for Rafael Nadal after making a winning debut at the Laver Cup. The American is competing at the team tournament for the first time and revealed that he always tried to learn from the 22-time Major winner. His comment comes just weeks after he lost to Novak Djokovic at the US Open, with Shelton’s dad later claiming that the world No 1 “mocked” his son’s famous phone celebration.

Shelton is back in action at this weekend’s Laver Cup – his first appearance since storming to the semi-final of the US Open. The 20-year-old defeated Team Europe’s Arthur Fils 7-6(4) 6-1 in the opening match of the tournament and was later told that his energy, celebrations and left-handed forehand were reminiscent of Nadal.

The world No 19 then confessed that he had tried to copy certain traits from the 22-time Grand Slam champion in the past. “I think that’s a huge compliment, so thank you,” he said after receiving the comparison in a post-match press conference.

“But yeah, I think at times on the court, you know, the way that I love to fight, that I don’t give up, could be some traits that I saw or learned from Rafa growing up. You know, he was one of those guys who replicated it every match, every tournament. You could only hope to have a fighting spirit like him.”

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And it wasn’t just the tennis that Shelton wanted to match, as he also loved Nadal’s on-court emotion. He added: “But yeah, I think that some of the things that, you know, we have seen him do on the court definitely help me out on the court, showing some emotion, showing my fire, and trying to really come after the guy that I’m playing. But, yeah, thanks for the compliment.”

One of the ways that the American has been showing his fire on the court is with his celebrations, and one of them has already become famous. Following his third-round and quarter-final wins at the recent US Open, Shelton would put his hand to his ear in the shape of a phone before hanging it up.

And the celebration caught on as Djokovic used it when he defeated Shelton in the semi-final. The 20-year-old was relatively reserved in his reaction as he later said: “I didn’t see it until after the match. You know, 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.

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“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.” But his father and coach Bryan was much more outspoken, claiming that Djokovic mocked Shelton.

“He wants to be loved so much, Novak…” Bryan, himself a former player, told GQ. “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.”

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