MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) 鈥� American tennis player criticized on Wednesday some of the questions and comments made by post-match TV interviewers at the .
After Shelton reached the semifinals at the Grand Slam tournament, he followed his final answer at his news conference by saying: 鈥淥ne thing that I just want to say before we鈥檙e done: I鈥檝e been a little bit shocked this week with how players have been treated by the broadcasters.鈥�
He began by referencing the flap over , which caused the 24-time Grand Slam champion to refuse to speak to the local broadcaster, Channel 9, after one match.
Djokovic eventually relented after receiving public apologies from the network and its employee, Tony Jones.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think that was just a single event,鈥� Shelton said. 鈥淚鈥檝e noticed it with different people, not just myself.鈥�
Shelton went on to mention the interview with after his upset win over 2021 U.S. Open champion Daniil Medvedev ended at about 3 a.m. in the second round at Melbourne Park last week, calling it 鈥渆mbarrassing and disrespectful.鈥�
That awkward exchange included a series of statements to Tien, rather than questions, including observations by the interviewer that 鈥�19-year-olds are not meant to be that good鈥� and 鈥淚 know where you live, by the way.鈥�
Shelton also noted two of his own on-court TV interviews. After the 22-year-old's win against 38-year-old French veteran Gael Monfils in the fourth round, interviewer Roger Rasheed, a former tennis coach, attempted to make a joke by saying, 鈥淗e's almost your Dad.鈥�
Both Shelton and Monfils are Black. Shelton responded to Rasheed: 鈥淲as that a Black joke?鈥� To which Rasheed replied, 鈥淚'm not sure.鈥�
Then, after Shelton's 6-4, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (4) victory over Lorenzo Sonego in the quarterfinals Wednesday, he was asked about facing either the defending champion, Jannik Sinner, or an Australian player, Alex de Minaur, next, with the interviewer pointing out that the spectators likely would be cheering against Shelton in the semifinals, either way.
Shelton answered: 鈥淚 know I've got a few people out in the crowd who are going to be pulling for me, too.鈥�
At his news conference, Shelton said that what the interviewer said about the fans' support 鈥渕ay be true, but I just don鈥檛 think the comment is respectful from a guy I鈥檝e never met before in my life.鈥�
Shelton closed by saying: 鈥淚 feel like broadcasters should be helping us grow our sport and help these athletes who just won matches on the biggest stage enjoy one of their biggest moments. I feel like there鈥檚 just been a lot of negativity. I think that鈥檚 something that needs to change.鈥�
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Howard Fendrich has been the AP鈥檚 tennis writer since 2002. Find his stories here: . More AP tennis:
Howard Fendrich, The Associated Press
