After Stirring Up Controversy With His Dialed-In Act, Rising American Star Ben Shelton Takes a Leaf Out of Turkish Butcher?s Book at the Laver Cup

Ben Shelton has been the talk of the town in the tennis circuit of late. Earlier this month, he reached the semifinal of the US Open, his best Grand Slam result. However, he went down fighting against the eventual champion, Novak Djokovic, in the last four clash. During that match, Shelton’s dial-in celebration caused a massive controversy. Djokovic appeared to mock the American in front of his home fans with that gesture after his win. Subsequently, social media lashed out at the Serb for his harsh act. Now, Shelton himself has caught the attention of the tennis world by imitating a famous personality’s actions.

Shelton is presently in Vancouver where he is participating in his maiden Laver Cup campaign. The incident occurred during the first day of the tournament. Let’s find out what exactly happened.

Ben Shelton imitates Salt Bae’s famous action

The 20-year-old was in the Team World dugout where he was watching his teammate Francisco Cerundolo take on Team Europe’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. The former gave Team World a 2-0 lead by defeating the Spaniard. Subsequently, Shelton celebrated his victory in an unusual way.

As Cerundolo pointed towards his team’s dugout after his win, Shelton was captured imitating renowned Turkish butcher, Salt Bae’s ‘salt sprinkling’ action. The cameras caught the American in an unusual way of celebration and his picture spread like wildfire on social media, inviting reactions from thousands of fans. This gesture from Shelton comes only days after he caused controversy with his dialed-in celebration.

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In the first match of this year’s Laver Cup, Ben Shelton defeated Arthur Fils comfortably in straight sets. Subsequently, he mocked the Team Europe star with his famous celebration. However, Shelton’s dial-in celebration has been trending for all the wrong reasons. After Djokovic imitated Shelton’s action, he faced a massive backlash, including a strong response from Shelton’s father.

What did Shelton’s father say about Novak Djokovic?

The 20-year-old’s father wasn’t too pleased with Djokovic mocking his son with his own way of celebration. Subsequently, he hit out at the 24-time Grand Slam champion, saying, “He wants to be loved so much, Novak? 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.?

While off-court controversies will die down sooner or later, Shelton would want to shift his focus back to tennis quickly as he aims to guide his team to Laver Cup success. Being in the form of his life, the young American star will look to rise up the ranks as he aims to finish a largely successful season on a high.

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