Tennis Star Accuses Media of ‘Disrespectful’ Treatment of Players in Scorching Rant: ‘Kind of Embarrassing’
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American tennis star Ben Shelton went off on the media for what he claimed was “disrespectful” treatment of players throughout the Australian Open.
Shelton on Tuesday defeated Italian player Lorenzo Sonego to advance to the semifinals. At the end of his post-match press conference, Shelton took a moment to express his frustration with the way members of the media have handle on-court interviews.
“One thing that I just want to say before we’re done: I’ve been a little bit shocked this week with how players have been treated by the broadcasters,” Shelton said, ” and I don’t think that the guy who mocked [Novak Djokovic], I don’t think that was just a single event. I’ve noticed it with different people, not just myself. I noticed it with Learner Tien in one of his matches. I think when he beat [Daniil Medvedev], his post-match interview — I thought it was kind of embarrassing and disrespectful, that interview.”
Moments after his own match, Djokovic took to social media to Sunday to explain why he didn’t do a on-court interview. According to him, a local reporter mocked fans from Serbia — Djokovic’s home country — and “made offensive comments” toward the tennis star. Neither the reporter nor the outlet he works for issued a public apology, so Djokovic skipped the interview. He noted, however, that the person on the court for interviews at that time was not the same one who made the offensive comments.
Shelton went on to list various instances in which reporters made bizarre comments to him, like joking that 38-year-old Frenchman Gael Monfils might be his father or claiming that no one will be cheering for him in his next match.
“I feel like broadcasters should be helping us grow our sport,” Shelton said, “and help these athletes, who just won matches on the biggest stage, enjoy one of their biggest moments; and I feel like there’s just been a lot of negativity and I think that’s something that needs to change.”
