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US tennis player Ben Shelton claims that he has been “shocked” by the actions of TV broadcasters at the Australian Open, calling some of the interviews “negative” and “disrespectful”.
Shelton’s comments come just a few days after Channel Nine presenter Tony Jones was forced to apologise to Novak Djokovic after jokingly saying on air that the Serbian was “overrated” and a “has-been”.
And Shelton, speaking at the end of his post-match press conference on Wednesday, said that he was shocked with “how players have been treated by the broadcasters”.
“I don’t think that the guy who mocked Novak, I don’t think that was just a single event. I’ve noticed it with different people, not just myself,” said Shelton.
The American mentioned an “embarrassing” and “disrespectful” interview that he saw with compatriot Learner Tien, right after the 19-year-old had knocked out fifth seed Daniil Medvedev. Interviewer John Fitzgerald said to Tien that “19-year-olds aren’t meant to be that good”, before asking him if he had heard of his next opponent, Corentin Moutet.
Shelton also referenced two interviews of his own that he was unhappy about, with the first coming after his win over Gael Monfils, when interviewer Roger Rasheed attempted to make a joke about the age gap between the two players, stating that Monfils is “almost your dad”. Shelton misunderstood the comment, asking: “Was that a black joke?”
The second interview came after his quarter-final win against Lorenzo Sonego, when the interviewer stated that the “crowd are going to be on the other guy’s side” for Shelton’s semi-final as he would be playing either world number one Jannik Sinner or home hopeful Alex de Minaur.
“There are some comments that have been made to me in post-match interviews by a couple of different guys,” Shelton said.
“Today on the court, ‘Hey, Ben, how does it feel that no matter who you play in your next match, no one is going to be cheering for you?’ I mean, it may be true, but I just don’t think the comment is respectful from a guy I’ve never met before in my life.”
The 22-year-old finished his conference saying: “I feel like broadcasters should be helping us grow our sport and help these athletes who just won matches on the biggest stage enjoy one of their biggest moments.
“I feel like there’s just been a lot of negativity. I think that’s something that needs to change,” he added.
