Rising tennis star Ben Shelton has hit out at Australian Open broadcasters, calling their post-match interviews “embarrassing and disrespectful.” The American reached his first semifinal in Melbourne and was particularly vocal about comments made during on-court interviews, including remarks about crowd support and jabs at veteran players.
“I’ve been shocked by how players have been treated this week,” Shelton said during his press conference. “It’s not just me; I’ve noticed it with others too. Some of the questions and comments have been completely out of line.”
Shelton’s criticism comes as broadcasters face growing scrutiny for their handling of player interactions. It’s understood Shelton was referring to a pool of journalists hired by Tennis Australia, who also conduct on-court interviews with players.
Nevertheless, this follows a high-profile spat between Novak Djokovic and Channel Nine earlier in the tournament, further fuelling debate over media professionalism at the event. Djokovic refused to participate in a post-match interview at the Australian Open, with tennis star feeling “disrespected” by comments made by Channel Nine’s Tony Jones.
Jones later used The Today Show to publicly apologise, acknowledging that his comments had been misinterpreted.
“Unfortunately, my ‘humour’ the other night was misinterpreted as an attack on Novak. That was certainly not the case,” Jones said. “I’ve been joking with Serbian fans throughout the tournament, and this – at least I thought so – was a continuation of that. At no point did I mean to show any disrespect to Novak, and I apologise. There was certainly no intention to offend him.”
Channel Nine’s Tony Jones apologises to Novak Djokovic on Today.
Jones also revealed that he had privately apologised to Djokovic’s camp 48 hours before the tennis star’s on-court boycott, after being informed by Tennis Australia that his comments had caused upset.
“I immediately contacted the Djokovic camp and issued an apology for any disrespect Novak felt,” Jones said. “The comments were made as banter, but I now understand they were perceived differently.”
Despite the off-court distractions, Shelton has managed to focus on his game, securing a hard-fought win over Lorenzo Sonego to advance to the semifinals. But his comments have added a new layer of tension to the tournament, raising questions about the relationship between players and the media.
Channel Nine has told Mediaweek it will not be commenting on the incident.
Pictured: Ben Shelton