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World No. 16 Ben Shelton had a rather disagreeable interaction with a heckler during his third-round win over 22nd-seed Francisco Cerundolo at the Indian Wells Masters on Sunday (March 10).
Shelton was preparing to serve at 6-5 up in the third-set tiebreaker when a loud fan called him a 'son of a b***h' in Spanish. The 21-year-old, however, wouldn't let the heckling distract his serve, blasting a first serve out wide. Cerundolo failed to get his return across the net, as the American won with a scoreline of 7-6(5), 3-6, 7-6(5).
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The 16th seed gave the heckler a piece of his mind immediately after the crowd erupted into applause. The youngster's no-nonsense attitude subsequently received plaudits from the tennis community on Reddit, with one fan suggesting that his on-court presence riles a few fans up to no end.
"I love how mad Ben makes certain people lol. Most of the responses here seem to love it as much as I do but there’s a few at the bottom 'omg I can’t stand him even though he’s right here I still have to tell you how much I hate him,'" the fan wrote.
One fan admired the American's focus during the serve, writing:
"Shelton response was so cold though! Mfer has ice in his veins"
Another fan, meanwhile, criticized the fan who had directed abuse at Ben Shelton in Spanish.
"What a P*S do you have to be to do this on match point," they wrote.
Here are a few more reactions from Reddit:
Ben Shelton to resume rivalry with Jannik Sinner in Indian Wells 4R clash
Ben Shelton will next play reigning Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner for a place in the quarterfinals of the 2024 Indian Wells Masters. The two players split their two meetings on the ATP tour last year and their head-to-head record stands at 1-1.
Shelton won their first-ever match in the Round of 16 at last year's Shanghai Masters, overcoming a set deficit to win the contest 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(5). The 21-year-old dropped their next match two weeks later though, as Sinner beat him 7-6(2), 7-5 en route to his title victory at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna.
For academic purposes, Ben Shelton is one of the only two players to have defeated Jannik Sinner in his last 36 tour-level outings. The World No. 3 has been in scintillating form after a fourth-round exit at last year's US Open, having won singles titles in Melbourne, Beijing, Vienna, and Rotterdam. He also guided Italy to their second Davis Cup title in Malaga last November.
