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via Imago

via Imago

American tennis sensation Ben Shelton is living his dream this year. The 21-year-old is enjoying the best season of his tennis career currently. Early on, he reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open before losing out to compatriot, Tommy Paul. Further, in the last Grand Slam tournament of the season, the US Open, Shelton made it to the last four, his best performance at major tournaments. Recently, Shelton won the ATP 500 Japan Open. During this tournament, he performed a wonderful move that was copied by fellow tennis player Arthur Fils.

While Shelton is playing in Japan, Fils is plying his trade at the European Open in Antwerp. Fils too reached the summit clash by defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semifinals. Let’s find out what he did after one of the biggest victories of his career.

Arthur Fils copies the move of Ben Shelton

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Hours ago, Fils caused a massive upset in Belgium as he knocked out the top seed, Tsitsipas. In a match lasting for two hours, the Frenchman got the better of his opponent in straight sets 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4). Subsequently, Fils did something that was also done by Shelton in Japan.

via Reuters

After his victory over Tsitsipas, Fils proceeded toward the camera and wrote, “Humble and hungry.” It was the same thing that Shelton signed after defeating Marcos Giron in a hard-fought semifinal encounter at the Japan Open Tennis Championships.

Fils’ move went viral on social media and thousands of fans reacted to it. It even caught the attention of Shelton, who took to Instagram to react to it. Sharing the moment via a story on his official Instagram handle, Shelton wrote, “Twin,” with fingers crossed emoji.

Earlier this year, Shelton faced Fils in an exciting Laver Cup encounter. After that match, he radiated Rafael Nadal vibes.

Shelton’s enticing encounter against Fils gave Rafael Nadal’s vibes

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At this year’s Laver Cup in Canada, Shelton got the better of Fils in straight sets 7-6(4), 6-1. His performance in that match radiated a ‘Rafa-esque’ vibe, according to a journalist to which the American had a wonderful response.

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Talking about this, Shelton said, “the way that I love to fight, that I don’t give up. It could be some traits that I saw or learned from Rafa growing up, showing some emotion, showing my fire, and trying to come after the guy that I’m playing.”

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Shelton recently won his maiden ATP Tour final, defeating Aslan Karatsev in an exciting clash. It’ll be interesting to see if he can build this momentum and finish the 2023 season on a high.

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