MELBOURNE, Australia — Ben Shelton, the 22-year-old American who made the Australian Open semifinals Wednesday with a win over Lorenzo Sonego, added his voice to the refrain of gamers who’ve been crucial of the broadcasters and on-court interviewers in his post-match information convention.
“I’ve been just a little bit shocked this week with how gamers have been handled by the broadcasters,” Shelton mentioned.
He topped his checklist of complaints with Tony Jones, the Channel 9 sportscaster, who taunted Serbian followers, referred to as Novak Djokovic names and yelled “kick him out” on air. It was an obvious reference to Djokovic being deported from Australia two years in the past over Covid-19 protocols.
Jones apologized on the air, saying that he “overstepped the mark,” after Djokovic referred to as his feedback “insulting and offensive.” He had refused to do on-court interviews till he acquired the apology.
“I don’t suppose that was only a single occasion,” Shelton mentioned. “I’ve observed it with totally different individuals, not simply myself.”
He talked about American Learner Tien’s on-court interview, a stilted dialog at 3 a.m. during which an exhausted and dazed Tien, 19, grew to become the article of some mocking when two questions left him a bit speechless after almost 5 hours of tennis in the course of the evening. He had simply knocked out Daniil Medvedev, the No. 5 seed.
“19 12 months olds aren’t meant to be that good,” the interviewer, John Fitzgerald, mentioned. Then he requested Tien if he had ever heard of his subsequent opponent, Corentin Moutet.
“I observed it with Learner Tien in considered one of his matches,” Shelton mentioned. “I believe when he beat Medvedev, his post-match interview. I assumed it was form of embarrassing and disrespectful.”
Shelton then turned to his personal experiences. After his fourth-round win over Gael Monfils, the interviewer mentioned to Shelton that Monfils might be his father. Monfils is Black, as is Shelton, who responded, “is {that a} Black joke?”
He later mentioned he didn’t suppose the interviewer meant any malice within the remark, however that it nonetheless made him uncomfortable.
“There are some feedback which were made to me in post-match interviews by a few totally different guys. Immediately on the courtroom, ‘hey, Ben, how does it really feel that regardless of who you play in your subsequent match, nobody goes to be cheering for you?’
“I imply, could also be true, however I simply don’t suppose the remark is respectful from a man I’ve by no means met earlier than in my life.”
Shelton mentioned he felt the broadcasters and interviewers weren’t doing a adequate job selling tennis.
“I really feel like broadcasters ought to be serving to us develop our sport and assist these athletes who simply received matches on the most important stage take pleasure in considered one of their largest moments. I really feel like there’s simply been a whole lot of negativity. I believe that’s one thing that should change.”
Tennis Australia was not instantly ready to reply to Shelton’s feedback.
(Nick Denholm / Getty Photos)
