World Number 1, Novak Djokovic went through all kinds of emotions during his US Open campaign this season. The Serb captured his 24th Grand Slam title after defeating Daniil Medvedev in the summit clash of the tournament. However, prior to his big victory, the 36-year-old found himself in the middle of an unwanted controversy. Djokovic mocked Ben Shelton in front of his home fans during their semifinal match. While he faced massive backlash for his actions, Djokovic has found some support in the form of a former US Open finalist.

As Djokovic’s act went viral, social media was filled with negative comments against Djokovic. Amidst this, Greg Rusedski has come to the aid of the Serb. Let’s find out what he had to say about this.

Greg Rusedski speaks in favor of Novak Djokovic

Recently, Rusedski made an appearance on the Tennis Channel Inside-In podcast where he talked about Djokovic as the world’s best athlete, budding stars like Rune and Sinner, and the Davis Cup. Talking about Djokovic, Rusedski opened up about the controversy surrounding him at the US Open.

Speaking on this subject, the former US Open finalist went on to reveal, “I don’t mind it from Novak and you know in sport it’s like sometimes you don’t always do the politically correct things. But in the heat of the moment sometimes you do these celebrations and things and we’re talking about it so it’s bringing more fans to the game.”

Despite the Serb admitting that it was done in a light-hearted fashion and that he didn’t have anything against Shelton, Djokovic’s celebration wasn’t well received by the American audience. Additionally, Shelton’s father tore apart the 24-time Grand Slam champion on this subject.

What did Shelton’s father say about Djokovic?

The American tennis sensation’s father didn’t take Djokovic imitating Shelton’s phone dial-in celebration nicely and hit out at the Serb for his actions. Blasting Djokovic, he said, “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.”

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On the other hand, Shelton should be proud of his heroics at the US Open. Despite losing against Djokovic, a semifinal appearance was a credible result for the American star. It’ll be interesting to see how he performs in the coming tournaments, especially with him being in good form.

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