Ben Shelton says he is ‘ready for a war’ in the Canadian Open quarter-finals after clashing with Flavio Cobolli on Sunday. Shelton was all fired up after converting match point in a third-set tiebreak, and a tense discussion with Cobolli started at the net and continued until the players left the court.
Shelton was unhappy with a gesture Cobolli made which he thought was directed at him in the early stages of the tiebreak. The American confronted his opponent about it during the post-match handshake and Cobolli was heard saying: “You deserved this match but it’s not always you.”
Shelton accepted the explanation but the pair continued going back and forth underneath the umpire’s chair. Cobolli appeared to be struggling to get his point across but Shelton made it clear in his on-court interview that they had put their differences aside.
“He just made a gesture in the tiebreaker and I asked him about it,” explained the 22-year-old. “He said it wasn’t towards me, so we’re cool.”
An intense battle with Cobolli, which he came through 6-4 4-6 7-6, has put Shelton in the mood for ‘war’. And he may need all of his battling qualities to get past the relentless Alex de Minaur in the quarter-finals.
Ahead of their first ever competitive meeting, Shelton said: “Yeah, he’s a dawg. I’m ready for it. And for people who haven’t heard that saying, that’s a good thing. He’s very fast. He’s in a great rhythm, you saw what he did in DC.
“He’s a great front runner, and you can never count him out when he’s down. So I’m prepared for a war. I’m really excited. It’s our first matchup. We’ve had some practice, some competitive practice sets. He puts it on the line in practice as well, that’s one of the things that I love about him. Yeah, I’m really excited.”
Fourth seed Shelton has put in more of the hard yards than De Minaur has at this stage of the tournament. After dominating Adrian Mannarino in the opening round, the American needed three sets and a lengthy tiebreak to topple Brandon Nakashima in the second before going the distance with Cobolli.
De Minaur, coming off a superb win at the Citi Open the weekend before last, has only played five sets to Shelton’s eight. The Aussie breezed past Francisco Comesana in the first round, got a walkover against Christopher O’Connell in the second and then beat Frances Tiafoe on Sunday.
Content Source: www.express.co.uk