MELBOURNE, Australia — American Ben Shelton mentioned he has been “shocked” by how broadcasters and interviewers have been treating gamers at this 12 months’s Australian Open, calling for extra respect and “one thing to alter” within the player-media dynamic.
After his four-set quarterfinal conquer Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego on Wednesday, Shelton mentioned in a information convention that he had seen plenty of “disrespectful” conduct from broadcasters and people conducting on-court interviews.
Earlier within the match, Tony Jones, a broadcaster from Australian host broadcaster Channel 9, apologized after he admitted he crossed the road in heckling followers and deriding 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic throughout a information phase.
However Shelton went additional, saying he and different gamers, corresponding to American qualifier Learner Tien, had been subjected to “embarrassing” on-court interviews.
“I have been somewhat bit shocked this week with how gamers have been handled by the broadcasters. I do not suppose that the man who mocked Novak, I do not suppose that was only a single occasion. I’ve seen it with totally different individuals, not simply myself,” Shelton mentioned. “I seen it with Learner Tien in one among his matches. I believe when he beat [Daniil] Medvedev, his postmatch interview, I assumed it was type of embarrassing and disrespectful, that interview. There are some feedback which have been made to me in postmatch interviews by a few totally different guys, whether or not it was, ‘Hey, [Gael] Monfils is sufficiently old to be your dad. Possibly he’s your dad.'”
Shelton then referred to the on-court interview after his win over Sonego, throughout which the interviewer implied the world No. 20 would don’t have any crowd help.
Shelton responded with humor, joking with the group that they “can boo me, throw stuff at my head,” however in his information convention he was much less enthused concerning the line of questioning.
“Or at this time on the court docket, ‘Hey, Ben, how does it really feel that irrespective of who you play in your subsequent match, nobody goes to be cheering for you?’ I imply, could also be true, however I simply do not suppose the remark is respectful from a man I’ve by no means met earlier than in my life,” Shelton mentioned. “I really feel like broadcasters must be serving to us develop our sport and assist these athletes who simply gained matches on the largest stage get pleasure from one among their greatest moments. I really feel like there’s simply been plenty of negativity. I believe that is one thing that should change.”
Shelton progressed to the semifinals on the Australian Open for the primary time. On Friday, he’ll meet world No. 1 and defending champion Jannik Sinner for a spot within the closing.