Novak Djokovic is so familiar with controversy that nowadays he has it on speed dial.
Not content with shattering Ben Shelton’s US Open dreams with a 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) victory that moved him into a 10th final at Flushing Meadows, Djokovic brought the 20-year-old American down a peg by mimicking his signature “putting down the phone” celebration. It made for an unexpectedly tense conclusion, the 6ft 4in Shelton fixing the Serb with an icy glare as they met to shake hands.
Both men played down the moment afterwards. Shelton suggested with a polite smile that he was flattered, while Djokovic grinned impishly as he explained that he liked his rival’s gesture so much he wanted to try it out himself.
“I just love Ben’s celebration,” said Djokovic. “I thought it was very original, and I copied him. I stole his celebration.”
In truth, it felt unnecessary. Shelton, who is playing his first full year as a professional, performs the move as a tribute to the American 110m hurdler Grant Holloway, a three-time world champion, who trains at the University of Florida in Gainesville, where Shelton lives. There was simply no need for Djokovic to get involved. Yet it was also a moment of pure theatre, a signal from the 36-year-old that he is not yet ready to take calls from the younger generation enquiring about the availability of his grand slam hegemony.
That Djokovic decided to mock Shelton’s trademark celebration was also a measure of just how much his opponent’s thunderclap serve, sledgehammer forehands and adrenaline-fuelled bellicosity got under his skin.
“I didn’t see it until after the match,” said Shelton, who received flak from some quarters for punctuating his quarter-final win over Frances Tiafoe with the gesture.
“You know, I don’t like when I’m on social media and I see people telling me how I can celebrate or can’t celebrate. I think if you win the match, you deserve to do whatever you want. As a kid growing up, I always learned that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so that’s all I have to say about that.”
Ironically, as the third set demonstrated, it was Shelton who could have done with dialling things down. The magnitude of his firepower was undeniable. A 138mph second serve early in the first set drew audible gasps from the crowd; another, in the second, was timed at 143mph. Yet, as the errors mounted, the pressure he felt to overplay against one of the all-time greats was obvious. It was only when Shelton dug in from the baseline and started contesting the rallies, rather than simply trying to blow Djokovic off the court, that he began to look a credible threat.
That moment did not come until the business end of the third, when Shelton rallied to cancel out a break, held with a 145mph service winner to move to 5-4, and capitalised on some shaky forehands from Djokovic to reach set point. He will reflect ruefully on the irony that, when the big moment came, it was the Serb who came up with a mighty serve, a 124mph delivery wide to the ad court snuffing out the danger.
There was still time for a final exchange of breaks, Shelton making three unforced errors to leave Djokovic serving for it, then atoning by saving a match point before inviting the Serb to net an overhead off a high lob on break point. Inevitably, Djokovic won the ensuing tiebreak to move within one victory of equalling Margaret Court’s record of 24 grand slam titles.
“[It was] quite a close ending to the match, with the crowd getting involved,” said Djokovic, who last made the final two years ago, when he was beaten by Daniil Medvedev. “So of course it wasn’t easy to close this match out, but I’m really glad I did in three sets. I didn’t want to take this match to a fourth set, that’s for sure.
“Obviously, I knew that he’s got a lot of firepower. He has an amazing pop on the serve, he’s just so dynamic and very unpredictable. 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. For most of the match I did and kind of made him play, made him uncomfortable.”
Shelton won the slugfest by 30 winners to 28, but in all the most meaningful metrics he was second best, creating just six break points to the Serb’s 14, converting two to Djokovic’s five, and making 43 unforced errors, 18 more than his opponent.
Shelton made the highlight reels; Djokovic made the final of all four majors in the same season for the third time in his career.