US Open 2023 - Ben Shelton : “Against Novak Djokovic, I will try to be different and destabilizing”
Ben Shelton vit un rêve à la maison. Le jeune Américain avait impressionné contre Tommy Paul en huitièmes, lâchant notamment deux bombes à 240 km/h. Impressionnant. Ce mardi soir, il a encore bluffé contre un autre compatriote, Frances Tiafoe. Demi-finaliste en 2022, Tiafoe est cette fois tombé sur un os et s'est incliné 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(7), 6-2. Le tournant du match a été ce tie-break de la troisième manche. Shelton a su sauver une balle de set avant de finalement passer devant et saper le moral de son adversaire. Avec cette première demi-finale en Grand Chelem, Ben Shelton sera 19e mondial lundi. Un garçon qui n'était que 165e l'an passé avant l'US Open. Il est le plus jeune américain dans le dernier carré à New-York depuis 1992. Et l'histoire n'est peut-être pas finie dans ce tournoi... Il défiera Novak Djokovic en demies.
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00:00 Yeah, I'm definitely feeling joy at times during the match.
00:04 I'd say a lot.
00:07 When I look over at my box and see my friends and family
00:10 over there, I get some smiles out of them or funny signals.
00:15 I enjoy that.
00:16 I really enjoy the interaction, interaction with people
00:19 when I'm on the court.
00:21 And I also enjoy the tennis.
00:24 It's tough.
00:24 I'm thinking to myself as I'm walking to get
00:30 my towel in the fourth set.
00:31 And it's like, this is the greatest moment on the tennis
00:37 court of my life.
00:38 And I'm in a lot of pain, you know, physically.
00:41 But I'm loving it.
00:43 And I think that that was just kind of the story of today.
00:47 How would you describe your thoughts
00:49 on where you are right now and the opportunity
00:53 that you have coming up in facing Novak Djokovic?
00:57 Yeah, I'm pretty glad I have two days off from singles.
01:03 I didn't know until a couple of minutes
01:06 ago that you don't play until Friday, right?
01:08 So that was nice to hear.
01:11 Usually at the beginning of a tournament,
01:13 you don't want to play Sunday, Wednesday,
01:18 and have two days off.
01:19 But at this stage, when players are as grooved as they are,
01:23 it's nice to have a couple of days off.
01:25 So going into the semifinals, I'm
01:28 pretty pumped about the opportunity
01:31 to go back out there and have the same feeling
01:34 that I had today against another really tough opponent.
01:38 And I've been enjoying every minute on court,
01:43 interactions with the crowds, and just the tennis that's
01:46 being played.
01:47 So I hope that I can bring a high level again on Friday.
01:50 But specifically the challenge that Novak
01:53 presents, given his history, unlike anybody others.
01:57 Yeah, definitely a tough challenge.
02:01 I think that whenever you play somebody for the first time
02:04 and someone who's been in this situation so many times
02:07 and come out victorious so many times,
02:12 that's in the back of your head.
02:13 And you just know how rock solid the guy is
02:17 and how mentally tough, how physically tough.
02:21 And so that's definitely something
02:24 that I have to game plan for.
02:26 I also think that it's an advantage with my game style,
02:32 playing someone who's never played me before.
02:35 I think that I can bring some things to the table
02:37 that maybe you don't see in your normal match
02:41 that you play on the ATP tour.
02:43 So I'm definitely going to try to bring some things
02:47 to the table that are different and hopefully disruptive