Who is one of the most confident among ATP youngsters? When this question is asked, the name of Ben Shelton always comes to mind. With his unique fun-oriented attitude, Shelton has won many hearts. But at the same time, just because of a controversy against Novak Djokovic that started at last year’s US Open, a different image of him might have been created in the tennis world.

But recently, as the controversy once again ignited at the Australian Open, Jim Courier opened up about how the 21-year-old might be misunderstood in terms of his personality. Let’s take a look at what the tennis star has to say about the rising American sensation.

Jim Courier’s thoughts on Ben Shelton’s personality

Since the US Open semi-final last year, American fans thought that Ben Shelton had the thing that could defeat the Serb on the court. But after the 36-year-old won and copied his opponent’s trademark phone-dialing celebration, both of them stepped into a controversy.

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Now, after 4 months and seeing Shelton’s side of how he managed a controversy, the 53-year-old former American tennis star, in an interview with ‘Wide World of Sports’, talked about how the 2023 US Open champion is ‘misunderstood’. He also added that the tennis critics will eventually learn to love him as time passes.

Courier feels that Shelton might have been ‘misunderstood’ because of the way he answered Djokovic’s act of mocking his young rival with an imaginary phone and then slamming it down. Courier said, “I think that Ben is a confident young man and has a lot of swagger on the court. Some people might not take to that, but a lot of people do. I think if you get to know him personally, I think you’ll fall in love with him.”

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Tennis critics started pointing fingers at him when world number one highlighted how his idea of copying the celebration was a reaction to the provocation that came from the other side, which was his opponent, Shelton. But do you know that when all the fingers are pointing at the young American player, he just wants to leave the past behind and move forward?

Shelton wants to leave the Novak Djokovic controversy behind

The 36-year-old Serbian tennis player believed that Shelton was not respectful towards him, and dealt with him in his own way, bringing out the other side of the 21-year-old. But after being wired into the controversy for so long, Shelton is in no mood to be a part of it and wants to leave this behind.

A few days back, in a candid conversation, he said, “We’re in Australia now, and we’re at the Australian Open, not the US Open anymore. I’m just focusing on the Australian Open and happy and grateful to be here.” While he proved to be the bigger man in the nasty controversy, he also gave a classic response to showcase his rapidly growing personality.

Nevertheless, what are your thoughts on this controversy? Do let us know in the comment section below.

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