"Take a shot at the king, you'd better not miss" - Tennis pro dubs Novak Djokovic 'stone-cold killer' over response to copying Ben Shelton celebration

Novak Djokovic copying Ben Shelton’s celebration post his win in the US Open semifinal has set the tennis world abuzz. After a host of fan reactions, fellow players have also started taking notice.

British No. 4 Liam Broady took to social media to share his reaction to the incident. Replying to a post on X (formerly Twitter) that featured Djokovic’s response to being asked about his decision to copy the celebration, Broady dubbed the 23-time Grand Slam champion a 'stone cold killer'.

"This guy is a stone-cold killer man. You take a shot at the king you’d better not miss jeez," Liam Broady wrote on Twitter.

The video clip in question featured a part of Djokovic’s press conference, in particular his response to a question about his decision to copy Ben Shelton’s now-famous 'dialed-in' celebration. The Serb had at the time said he found the celebration very original and hence decided to copy it.

"And I just love Ben Shelton's celebration, Novak Djokovic had said. "I thought it was very original, and I copied him. I stole his celebration."

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"I knew that Ben Shelton's got a lot of firepower" - Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic and Ben Shelton at the US Open.

Novak Djokovic also assessed his big win over Ben Shelton in the post-match press conference, saying he was happy to have come through in straight sets. The Serb said he felt a few things went into his favor early in the match, but lost his rhythm towards the latter part of the match.

"Great to be able to win in straight sets," Novak Djokovic said. "I thought everything was working really well and in my favor, two sets to love up and 4-2. Then things started to change. He had set point. I was serving for the match. Lost break. Maybe lost a little bit of a rhythm there."

Djokovic conceded that his opponent possessed a lot of firepower and was appreciative of Ben Shelton’s serve. The former champion, however, said he knew that he just needed to remain calm and stay solid.

"Obviously I knew that Ben Shelton's got a lot of firepower," Novak Djokovic said. "He has an amazing pop on the serve, he's just so dynamic and very unpredictable what comes next."

"I just had to stay there mentally, present, calm, and focus on the game plan and what I need to do and try to be solid from baseline, which for most of the match I have done and kind of made him play, made him uncomfortable," he added.