2023 USO SF: Novak Djokovic (2) vs Ben Shelton

Who will win

  • Djokovic in 3

    Votes: 76 46.1%
  • Djokovic in 4

    Votes: 46 27.9%
  • Djokovic in 5

    Votes: 4 2.4%
  • Shelton in 3

    Votes: 13 7.9%
  • Shelton in 4

    Votes: 10 6.1%
  • Shelton in 5

    Votes: 16 9.7%

  • Total voters
    165

Fed_Nole

Rookie
Congratulations, Nole. But Feel like it will be 2016 repeat, he luck in final, but will be destroyed.

Against a technically flawed, error machin, greenhorn semifinalis, really shaky when Shelton brought up decent defense in late 3rd set. Will be surprised if he can take one single set from Carlos
 

FeroBango

Legend
I totally agree. I'm not even a Novak fan, but all these things are so inconsequential - Shelton's gestures, Novak's gestures. Who cares They're not killing anyone. It's sports. Shelton is not going to be scarred by Novak's "revenge" gesture.
Tennis has odd fans.
 

Znak

Hall of Fame
Well, Djokovic is probably trying to point out how stupid and disrespectful that gesture is.
novak-djokovic-serbia-tears-shirt-839216022.jpg

I'm sorry what?
 

Federev

G.O.A.T.
Don't root for any of the big 3. I think Nole very often talks about respect, and while Ben didn't do much in this match to be disrespectful, I guess Nole didn't really like seeing Ben do it in the previous rounds. It's a good response for me, if Ben doesn't find his own celebration disrespectful he has nothing to be upset about, if he does well, maybe its time for some introspection.
Goaty poasty.
 

Federev

G.O.A.T.
You're not everyone. But it must be really, really hard to root against Djokovic as hard as you do when he's reached the final of 9 of the last 10 majors he's played and won 6 of them with a possible 7 coming.
Yeah… it’s kind of hard.

Let’s be honest.

It is.
 

TheNachoMan

Legend
DDS (Djokovic derangement syndrome) is real.

Tennis is full of prunes. This would not be notable in football or basketball at all. Get with the times. Bit of trash talk is good.
 

intrepidish

Hall of Fame
Djokovic should be drowning in adulation with his overall level and performances through the years. But he's not and it looks like he won't be anytime soon.

Anyone who's not a part of his fanbase or in a very small forum subculture will instantly grasp why from watching him lower himself to the level of some rookie kid who got lucky on a run to the US Open semis.

And on the other side of the draw, another kid effortlessly commands more adulation ALREADY.

No mystery why.
 

ppma

Professional
Well... the kid has the patterns to be great and entertaining, and also to beat Djokovic if put together the right way. Just needs some patience and work on point construction. Gambling almost every shot does not work so well against someone that can return everything.
 

TheSlicer

Hall of Fame
So what he did to Tiafoe was fine
Well i think its different, because the phone celebration is a celebration he has because of a thing he and his friends understand, as he said inhis press conference, he wasnt mocking tiafoe, he was just doing his celebration, whereas djokovic mocking a kid on his first year on tour and winning easy in 3 sets looked a bit like bullying to me, i understand he was trying to say: dont be so efusive kid, celebrating with so much energy, im the boss here....
But still, it looked bad to me because it looked a bit like bullying, it wasnt a disputed match, winning in 3 sets was message enough, no need to mock him, specially a player like djokovic, him feeling the need to do so tells me theres something very wrong with this guy, which honestly a lot of people feel and its why he isnt very liked.
 

Juice4080

Semi-Pro
What Novak did wasn't some retaliation for what Shelton against Big Fo it was payback for being annoying to Novak and it was well deserved. Aggressively hitting the ball to Novak's side at very opportunity, yelling loudly the few points he was able to win
 

Mark-Touch

Legend
I mean I tuned in at the 3rd set and it took me 10 minutes to notice friction. Alot of yelling towards Novak when winning points (in wich Novak responded back doing the same ala Norrie MC match earlier in the year), eyballing Novak and being overall just obnoxious. Novak didn't like that.
Yeah where was the respect?
 

paolo2143

Hall of Fame
Keep on missing the point along with the rest of the Djokovic fans who think it's just fabulous and then wonder why a guy who should be drowning in adulation is barely tolerated by huge numbers of tennis fans.
No we think it was funny and spontaneous and it was , what we do notice is all the Novak haters slamming him for something that if it had been done against him they would be on here cele
 

intrepidish

Hall of Fame
No we think it was funny and spontaneous and it was , what we do notice is all the Novak haters slamming him for something that if it had been done against him they would be on here cele


There's virtually no one who thought it was cool when Shelton did it with Tiafoe so no.

There is however a big difference between a 20 year old kid doing that, silly as it may be, and a 26 year old multislam champ doing it seriously in response.
 

AMGF

Hall of Fame
I have no problem with taunting and arrogance, nothing at all and even like it. But when you do, be sure to win or make sure to be able to take it back when others do it to you.

When Sheldon taunted ND and overly celebrated just coming back even in the serves when he broke him in the third set I just knew Novak was gonna do something at the end.

I like Shelton and that humble pie will make him a more humble player.

Don’t poke the bear. Djokovic is savage. Djokovic didn’t disappoint!
 

Bogdan_TT

Hall of Fame
There's virtually no one who thought it was cool when Shelton did it with Tiafoe so no.

There is however a big difference between a 20 year old kid doing that, silly as it may be, and a 26 year old multislam champ doing it seriously in response.
You clearly don't understand Eastern Europe. We still raise our kids old style, pre-woke. Making fun of our kids' mistakes is a way of life.
 

Bubcay

Legend
Just haters being haters, nothing new and of course, the double standard is again on prominent display.

It's perfectly OK for an upstart (who has won nothing in his career) to do the hang up gesture on Tiafoe, but when a 23-time slam champion does it to a nobody, people get their undies in a twist. Maybe Shelton will learn to never do that stupid move again when he beats an opponent. Novak schooled him on court and also schooled him with the phone gesture.
100%. People seem to be missing the point of that move. It was a schooling moment to show how cringe worthy it is. It is good to be confident but the level of cockiness Shelton is displaying, as well as the level of disrespect with that gesture needed to be called out.
 
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TheSlicer

Hall of Fame
What bothers me the most is, why are these guys hanging up an old-timey telephone? We have cell phones now folks!
Lol, shelton knowing how an old telephone works makes me like him more, youngsters today dont even know a world without youtube or instagram... wait im old.
 

norcal

Legend
I turned off the snore fest after two sets, apparently I missed the only interesting part.

So Joker is now defending Tiafoe's honor? Or did Ben do the hang up thing against Joker too?

The hang up thing is f'ing lame btw, hope Ben stops that stupidity.
 

intrepidish

Hall of Fame
You clearly don't understand Eastern Europe. We still raise our kids old style, pre-woke. Making fun of our kids' mistakes is a way of life.

Oh sorry I thought I might have been talking to an adult but now I see I'm talking to a child who is going on about 'wokes' and a clash of civilisations.
 

mental midget

Hall of Fame
Some ridiculous pearl clutching going on here.

As a neutral, i thought Djokovic’s celebration radiated swagger.

Why do some of you watch sport, honestly…?
seriously, it was fun. nobody died. the good kind of drama imo.

observation on shelton: he has a fantastic serve motion, obviously, and i really like the variety (although in all honesty he really should bring the heater more often...wonder if his arm is maybe a little sore?)

however...he is not necessarily a great spot server yet. does not do a whole lot of line painting a la federer for example. if that 120-125mph is easy power for him, taking some time to dial up his accuracy would be a HUGE addition to the game.

also, if you look at many of the points shelton won, he definitely proved the point that letting novak beat himself is a higher-percentage play than trying to 'hero winner' yourself to a win against him.

...and one general observation i've been kind of tracking for a while: in many baseline exchanges, it's the short balls that often lead to errors...having to get up to a ball that lands short and is on its way down off the bounce when they get to it seems to often cause more problems than sharply hit deep balls. everybdy is so good side-to-side, but that up/down movement seems to often throw a wrench in the works.
 

tudwell

G.O.A.T.
He also mocked Alcaraz’s cabeza, corazon, cojones thing at the Australian. I get why Novak can get frustrated with crowds and want to “stick it to them” or whatever, but mocking specific players (especially Alcaraz who had to miss the Australian due to injury) just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I know it’s small potatoes, most sports are worse, he’s not evil for a little light-hearted (I’m assuming) taunting, but I guess I prefer champions who are as gracious in victory as they are in defeat. Shelton’s celebrations may be annoying, but the elder statesman of tennis should be able to easily look past that and stay classy.
 

Federev

G.O.A.T.
Djokovic should be drowning in adulation with his overall level and performances through the years. But he's not and it looks like he won't be anytime soon.

Anyone who's not a part of his fanbase or in a very small forum subculture will instantly grasp why from watching him lower himself to the level of some rookie kid who got lucky on a run to the US Open semis.

And on the other side of the draw, another kid effortlessly commands more adulation ALREADY.

No mystery why.

Ouch. I’m not really a Novak fan. I’m a butt-hurt Federite.

This is a bit rough.

But maybe some hard truth.

Novak is super intense and - I think - rather more insecure. He takes things very personally and shows it on court - and hits back quick. It’s not attractive to a lot of people, it’s weird.

But he’s defiant and that’s probably what’s driven him against Fedal where others have failed.

You take the good with the bad.

Less fans, but he’s got the greatest records.
 

Razer

G.O.A.T.
Why is he a punk? Because he has energy on the court? I dont find him disrespectful in or out of the court, unlike djokovic, who just fell short on class there for a veteran guy with all his records...
People like Nadal or Monfils had lot of energy on court but did you find them doing silly gestures post match or even during the match taunting opponents or trying to look smug ?
Thats why Shelton is a punk that needs to be schooled
We live in an era where 18-25 year olds are the more arrogant than their previous generations at that age, it is time people need to be taught that seniors need to be respected. This whole cool dude gimmick looks stupid when you have achieved nothing in life, thats what Shelton needs to learn.
 

Znak

Hall of Fame
People like Nadal or Monfils had lot of energy on court but did you find them doing silly gestures post match or even during the match taunting opponents or trying to look smug ?
Thats why Shelton is a punk that needs to be schooled
We live in an era where 18-25 year olds are the more arrogant than their previous generations at that age, it is time people need to be taught that seniors need to be respected. This whole cool dude gimmick looks stupid when you have achieved nothing in life, thats what Shelton needs to learn.
Good lord I got brain rot reading that. Thread is officially cooked
 

Milanez82

Hall of Fame
seriously, it was fun. nobody died. the good kind of drama imo.

observation on shelton: he has a fantastic serve motion, obviously, and i really like the variety (although in all honesty he really should bring the heater more often...wonder if his arm is maybe a little sore?)

however...he is not necessarily a great spot server yet. does not do a whole lot of line painting a la federer for example. if that 120-125mph is easy power for him, taking some time to dial up his accuracy would be a HUGE addition to the game.

also, if you look at many of the points shelton won, he definitely proved the point that letting novak beat himself is a higher-percentage play than trying to 'hero winner' yourself to a win against him.

...and one general observation i've been kind of tracking for a while: in many baseline exchanges, it's the short balls that often lead to errors...having to get up to a ball that lands short and is on its way down off the bounce when they get to it seems to often cause more problems than sharply hit deep balls. everybdy is so good side-to-side, but that up/down movement seems to often throw a wrench in the works.
Think the issue with that shorter top spin ball, players tend to move in a step too slow and that shot has to be a finishing shot since they are in no man's land.
Of course its still an easy shot for any pro.

Federer short slice was a masterful shot that lured players in with no real options to attack it.
 
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