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 chorus of players who have been critical of the broadcasters and on-court interviewers in his post-match news conference.
“I’ve been a little bit shocked this week with how players have been treated by the broadcasters,” Shelton said.
He topped his list of complaints with Tony Jones, the Channel 9 sportscaster, who taunted Serbian fans, called Novak Djokovic names and yelled “kick him out” on air. It was an apparent reference to Djokovic being deported from Australia two years ago over Covid-19 protocols.
Jones apologized on the air, saying that he “overstepped the mark,” after Djokovic called his comments “insulting and offensive.” He had refused to do on-court interviews until he received the apology.
“I don’t think that was just a single event,” Shelton said. “I’ve noticed it with different people, not just myself.”
He mentioned American Learner Tien’s on-court interview, a stilted conversation at 3 a.m. in which an exhausted and dazed Tien, 19, became the object of some mocking when two questions left him a bit speechless after nearly five hours of tennis in the middle of the night. He had just knocked out Daniil Medvedev, the No. 5 seed.
“19 year olds aren’t meant to be that good,” the interviewer, John Fitzgerald, said. Then he asked Tien if he had ever heard of his next opponent, Corentin Moutet.
“I noticed it with Learner Tien in one of his matches,” Shelton said. “I think when he beat Medvedev, his post-match interview. I thought it was kind of embarrassing and disrespectful.”
Shelton then turned to his own experiences. After his fourth-round win over Gael Monfils, the interviewer said to Shelton that Monfils could be his father. Monfils is Black, as is Shelton, who responded, “is that a Black joke?”
He later said he did not think the interviewer meant any malice in the comment, but that it still made him uncomfortable.
“There are some comments that have been made to me in post-match interviews by a couple of different guys. 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, may be true, but I just don’t think the comment is respectful from a guy I’ve never met before in my life.”
Shelton said he felt the broadcasters and interviewers were not doing a good enough job promoting tennis.
“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.”
Tennis Australia was not immediately able to respond to Shelton’s comments.
(Nick Denholm / Getty Images)
