Novak Djokovic taught Ben Shelton a lesson at the US Open last night, then mercilessly mocked him during his semi-final victory.
Immediately after completing his victory by a margin of 6-3, 6-2, 7-6, the 36-year-old Serbian imitated the young American’s previous victory gesture, which consisted of holding an imaginary phone to his ear, then to go further by suddenly lowering the phone. RECIPIENT.
Shelton had continued to captivate Flushing Meadows, but eventually received schooling from the clinical champion sixteen years his senior.
Djokovic is back in the US Open final, a record-tying tenth, after being banned from entering the country last year for non-vaccination.
The 36-year-old held up his end of the bargain by staging a repeat of this summer’s classic Wimbledon showdown, and had to wait to see if he would be joined by Carlos Alcaraz, who faced Daniil Medvedev in the second match.
Novak Djokovic moved closer to the 24th Grand Slam singles title of his famous career.
Despite a valiant fightback in the last set, Ben Shelton failed to capitalize during the break.
Until the end of this semi-final, Djokovic was the old master teaching a lesson to a recently emerged university player. Shelton, a speedy ball of energy, clearly had a big advantage and offered a late challenge after breaking back for 4-4 in the third set, but he never looked like springing an upset.
“These are the kind of occasions I like,” Djokovic said. The Grand Slams motivate me to play my best tennis. I knew I was going to play against an American, things were going well for me, then he backed off and it was everyone’s game in the end, I had to stay calm.
Shelton visited a stadium whose roof was closed due to stormy weather that looked set to break the brutal heat and humidity experienced here in recent days.
There was a thunderclap above us in the first set, and something similar on the court as the young American started throwing one haymaker after another at the great champion, with distinctly mixed results .
The roof increases the sound level of the constant chatter and shouts around Arthur Ashe, and the feverish atmosphere probably adds to the adrenaline already coursing through the young American’s veins.
To the delight of the packed crowd, he quickly used his golden left arm to deliver serves at 140 mph, and a daring second throw reached 143 mph. Although they play with different hands, there’s definitely the same can’t-take-your-eyes-off-him factor as there is with a properly functioning Nick Kyrgios.
Shelton’s problem is that little bothers Djokovic, whose game is perfectly equipped to absorb pace and return any physically responsible serve.
Playing at a much slower pace, he was quite happy to see unrecoverable serves go by, knowing full well that they would be accompanied by break opportunities.
Djokovic took control of the match from the start, winning the first set 6-3 and the second 6-2.
The stalwart Atlanta, Georgia native let out his frustrations during the match against the No. 2 seed.
It didn’t take long before the American accumulated unforced errors by going further than necessary. He contributed nine in the first six games, and that was enough for the Serbian to take a 4-2 lead.
Djokovic’s biggest discomfort came on serve at 5-3 as he lost the break point, accompanied by an almighty din. His opponent tried to clinch it by absolutely crunching a forehand, only managing to send it into the net.
The second set was a similar story, with the American bringing his unforced error count to around 30 by the end of the set, while the much more measured Djokovic barely touched double digits.
Another big difference was the success rate at the net, which is one of the areas where the young rough needs more sophistication. Every time Djokovic went for it, he won the point, while Shelton’s dinks and volleys often flew wide or resulted in easy putaways.
His best phase came when he looked for more consistency late on, but he was still behind after forcing a tiebreak and conceding it 7-4. It will have been part of this excellent education.
“These are the kind of occasions I like,” Djokovic said. The Grand Slams motivate me to play my best tennis. I knew I was going to play against an American, things were going well for me, then he backed off and it was everyone’s game in the end, I had to stay calm.
Shelton visited a stadium whose roof was closed due to stormy weather that looked set to break the brutal heat and humidity experienced here in recent days.
There was a thunderclap above us in the first set, and something similar on the court as the young American started throwing one haymaker after another at the great champion, with distinctly mixed results .
The roof increases the sound level of the constant chatter and shouts around Arthur Ashe, and the feverish atmosphere probably adds to the adrenaline already coursing through the young American’s veins.
To the delight of the packed crowd, he quickly used his golden left arm to deliver serves at 140 mph, and a daring second throw reached 143 mph. Although they play with different hands, there’s definitely the same can’t-take-your-eyes-off-him factor as there is with a properly functioning Nick Kyrgios.
Legendary singer Jon Bon Jovi was on hand for the engaging battle between the two men.
Shelton’s problem is that little bothers Djokovic, whose game is perfectly equipped to absorb pace and return any physically responsible serve.
Playing at a much slower pace, he was quite happy to see unrecoverable serves go by, knowing full well that they would be accompanied by break opportunities.
It didn’t take long before the American accumulated unforced errors by going further than necessary. He contributed nine in the first six games, and that was enough for the Serb to take a 4-2 lead.
Djokovic’s biggest discomfort came on serve at 5-3 as he lost the break point, accompanied by an almighty din. His opponent tried to clinch it by absolutely crunching a forehand, only managing to send it into the net.
The second set was a similar story, with the American bringing his unforced error count to around 30 by the end of the set, while the much more measured Djokovic barely touched double digits.
Another big difference was the success rate at the net, which is one of the areas where the young rough needs more sophistication. Every time Djokovic went for it, he won the point, while Shelton’s dinks and volleys often flew wide or resulted in easy putaways.
His best phase came when he looked for more consistency late, but he still trailed in the tiebreak 7-4. It will have been part of this excellent education.
