Information reaching Kossyderrickent has it that Novak Djokovic hung up the phone on Ben Shelton in ‘hand gesture troll’ after beating him at the US Open.
Djokovic then pointed to his temple and pounded his fist on his chest, before a stone-faced Shelton met him at the net for the most perfunctory of handshakes. A year after Djokovic could not travel to the United States for the Open because he is not vaccinated against COVID-19, the 36-year-old from Serbia is one victory away from a fourth title at Flushing Meadows and 24th Grand Slam championship overall.
And after finishing off a 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (4) victory to reach his record-tying 10th U.S. Open final and 36th at all major tournaments, Djokovic added a touch of insult to injury by mimicking the kid’s “Hang up the phone!” celebration gesture.
“These are the kind of matches and occasions that I still thrive on. They still get me going and inspire me to wake up and work hard like the young guys,” said Djokovic, who would be the oldest man to win the U.S. Open in the professional era, which began in 1968.
“I still feel I have something in my legs left,” he said. “I still feel I have something to give to the sport.”
Shelton, who entered the day with a tournament-high 76 aces, made things interesting in the third set, lifting his level of play as Djokovic seemed to get a bit tight when the finish line neared. Shelton broke for the only two times in the match, even held a set point at 5-4 and later erased a match point on the way to forcing the concluding tiebreaker
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