"Novak Djokovic's fans win the most Slams of obnoxiousness": Ben Shelton being inundated with clips of Serb's imitation of his celebration annoys fans

Tennis fans were left outraged as Ben Shelton continued to be inundated with clips of Novak Djokovic's imitation of his signature celebration.

Shelton's signature 'dialed in' celebration caught the spotlight during the 2023 US Open when he performed it after defeating Frances Tiafoe in the quarterfinals. The celebratory gesture became a point of contention after Novak Djokovic seemingly mocked the American by imitating the move after downing the 21-year-old in the semifinals.

The Serb received significant backlash from fans for ridiculing Shelton's celebration, causing his passionate fanbase to come to his defense. The World No. 1's fans have since taken to flooding the comments section of Shelton's social media posts with clips of the incident, even though it's been nearly two months since it took place.

A Reddit user posted a screen recording of Ben Shelton's Instagram comments section being inundated with clips of the World No. 1's imitation of his celebration, criticizing the Serb's fans for their obnoxious behavior.

"It’s insufferable, it really is on every single post including him, Djokovic is undoubtedly the goat statistically but his fans probably win the most grand slam titles of obnoxiousness," the user posted.

Several other users also aired their grievances with Djokovic's fans, with one user suggesting that the toxicity would decrease once the 36-year-old retired from the sport.

"It’s not criticism at Djokovic, it was a very cool celebration but my god I can’t f*kn stand his toxic fans criticising a 21 year old for showing personality and not bowing at their all mighty goat," one fan commented.

"It'll be better once he retires, tbh. It'll act like a purgative and flush out all the toxic cr*p," another fan chimed in.

Here are a few more fan reactions:

Novak Djokovic criticized by Ben Shelton's father Bryan for imitating the American's celebration

Ben Shelton's father Bryan did not take kindly to Novak Djokovic's imitation of his son's celebration. He criticized the Serb for "mocking" his son, believing it to be unbecoming of the tennis legend.

"He wants to be loved so much, Novak…He wanted to mock Ben at the end. It wasn't something he was doing just to copy Ben. It was to mock him. And that's too bad, for that to come from such a great champion," Bryan Shelton told GQ.

Ben Shelton, however, did not take any offense to the 24-time Grand Slam champion's actions, stating that he deserved to do whatever he wanted after emerging victorious in the match.

"I think if you win the match, you deserve to do whatever you want. You know, as a kid growing up, I always learned that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery," he said during a press conference at the US Open.

About the author

Urvi is a journalist who covers tennis at Sportskeeda. She started playing tennis herself at age six when her favorite women’s player Maria Sharapova won the 2006 US Open. Over the years, her passion for the sport has grown, and so has her skill in analyzing and reporting it. Holding a Masters Degree in Literature has definitely helped in this.

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Edited by Urvi Mehra