Indian Wells 2024: Ben Shelton Exposes Bizarre ‘Heckling’ Incident From Aggravated Fans at the Desert

Ben Shelton surely isn’t the one to back off if someone gets back at him. And, when it comes to heckling and booing, he has seen it all. A similar thing happened during his match against Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo at the R32 of the Indian Wells Masters. The crowd was at him right from the start of the game and the noise level inside the stadium was insane.

Although Ben Shelton stumbled a bit in the second set to the number 22, he recovered quickly to seal the deal within 2 hours and 43 minutes by a  7-6(5),3-6,7-6(5) margin. Next up for the 21-year-old American is Jannik Sinner. But Shelton’s reaction after clinching the victory against Cerundolo was quite extraordinary. Here’s what he had to say for that epic reaction.

Ben Shelton overcomes all the obstacles in Indian Wells Tennis Garden to make his way into the R16 of the BNP Paribas Open

Ben Shelton was seen screaming back and celebrating his victory by patting his chest after the match point. He shared that moment on his Instagram stories where some of the fans were seen screaming and wrote, “Volume up…the heckling was insane in this match. That’s why I reacted after the match pt. But we got thru it.” But despite the fact that some of the crowd was against him, there were also a few who celebrated his victory in the match, including his father Bryan Shelton.

Here’s what Ben Shelton had to say after the match during the interview, “Definitely a crazy match tonight. I heard the curfew was early here in Palm Springs. But you guys showed out tonight, so thanks everyone for staying, I know me and Fran really appreciate it.” He then thanked his team for helping him keep his nerves in check in such an intense matchup.

Talking about the atmosphere of the match he went on to add, “Definitely took a lot out of me tonight. It’s just one of those atmospheres you love playing in. There’s people screaming for me. There’s people screaming for Fran…It’s all love guys. I know you guys were screaming at me, but hopefully we can still be friends!” However, this isn’t the first time Ben Shelton has been at the receiving end of flak from fans.

“It was unreal” – Shelton on the hostile 2023 Australian Open atmosphere

A similar thing happened last year when Ben Shelton faced Australian tennis star Alexei Popyrin in front of his home crowd in the third round of the AO. Although he managed to snatch his victory against the Australian by 6-3, 7-6(4),6-4 Shelton had to face a lot of boos and jeers from the Aussie crowd.

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Relating to that incident Shelton said, “They kind of set the tone when I walked on court, and I got booed. First time at a pro match that that’s happened. It was unreal.” He further went on to add, “I can always respect a whole country getting behind their guy, so it was really cool to see.”

But the 21-year-old American feels, “When the whole crowd is for you, you feel this expectation that you have to deliver. I find it easy to play free when the crowd is coming at you and being aggressive. I enjoy that hostile atmosphere.” However, that match made Ben Shelton feel that he belonged to the bigger stages of the game. Share, which is your memorable moment from Ben Shelton’s epic rollercoaster journey so far in his career.

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