Nick Kyrgios responds to coach Darren Cahill comparing Ben Shelton to him

09/19/2023 12:00 AM

Nick Kyrgios approves Darren Cahill comparing Ben Shelton to him and also saying that there was nothing wrong in what happened moments after the Shelton and Novak Djokovic US Open match. After completing a three-set win over Shelton in the US Open semifinal, Djokovic "hung up the phone" on the American - that's the celebration the 20-year-old was using throughout the tournament. That moment drew lots of attention as some heavily criticized Kyrgios over "mocking" Shelton. "He's like Kyrgios, you like Kyrgios, you hate him, I don't care. On the tour, he brings something different and people will go out and buy a ticket, and watch these guys play. And Ben brings a real joy in what he's doing on the court, he's not scared, he doesn't care who he is playing. I love him, I think the fact that Novak took him up a little bit (for his celebrations) was awesome. You can't have robots on tour, you can't have no-personality's on tour," Cahill said on the Advantage Connors podcast. Reacting to Cahill's comments, Kyrgios just said: "Finally."

Finally

— Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) September 18, 2023

Kyrgios absolutely loved what happened after the Djokovic and Shelton match as he has been indicating that tennis needs more of it. “He wants to be loved so much, Novak. He wanted to mock Ben at the end. It wasn't something he was doing just to copy Ben. It was to mock him. And that's too bad, for that to come from such a great champion," Shelton's father Bryan told GQ. Reacting to those comments, Kyrgios said: "SO WHAT?!?!? SPORT IS ENTERTAINMENT. WE AREN’T ROBOTS. MORE PEOPLE SPOKE ABOUT THE CELEBRATION THEN THE MATCH."

SO WHAT?!?!? SPORT IS ENTERTAINMENT. WE AREN’T ROBOTS. MORE PEOPLE SPOKE ABOUT THE CELEBRATION THEN THE MATCH 😂

— Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) September 15, 2023

Meanwhile, Kyrgios - who is considered one of the biggest entertainers in the game - has been limited to just one tournament and one match so far in 2023. As it stands now, Kyrgios likely won't play again until 2024.