Ben Shelton’s Canadian Open Controversy Sparks Serena’s Ex-Coach Call Out Over Missed Moment

Last week, Ben Shelton was eager to hit his 100th tour-level win, but Flavio Cobolli was on the other side of the net. On the Centre Court, he was on fire – but so was the Italian. Their fourth round clash was so intense at the Canadian Open, that it went into a decider. A tiebreak confirmed the last man standing in the most theatrical finish anyone could think of. The intensity of the battle seemingly fueled their exchange as well. In no time, the internet was on fire believing that something controversial was said and heard between Shelton and Cobolli. It’s not always as it seems, and Serena Williams’ former coach is stating it as it stands.

During the R16, Shelton and Cobolli were going toe-to-toe. The 22-year-old American snatched the first set 6-4. But soon, the Italian made it even with the same scoreline in the second set. But the third set proved to be action packed. When Shelton was trailing 3-5 in the decider, it seemed like Cobolli was on his way to victory. But the American played spoilsport to Cobolli’s hope pushing the game into a tiebreak. Two-and-a-half-hours later, Shelton was through to the semis with a scoreline of 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(1). But when they met at the net for a handshake, Cobolli was seen conversing with Shelton, which partially sounded like, “You deserved this match, but it’s not always with you.” Assumptions flew and netizens went berserk, hungry for drama, which never ensued.

According to Serena Williams’ former trainer Rennae Stubbs, this incident was a normal “back-and-forth” between two players. In fact, she thinks that it may even have been misheard and misinterpreted. Stubbs elobarated, “And I don’t know if you saw my Twitter, I put out a little Twitter thing about it because I knew what was going on. I couldn’t believe the freaking commentators didn’t see it.” Speaking in an episode of her podcast, dated August 6, Stubbs added, “Now we’ve all done this, right? Where your opponent hits a shot and you’re like, that was so out of their a** and he’s like tired.”

“It’s like three hours and Ben hits this inside out forehand. He got one love in the tiebreak in the third set. And if you watch his reaction, he’s like, ‘Come on’. And then he looks down the other end and he sees his friends, because they’re friends. Gesture like, he closed his eyes and hit it, right? And so Ben was like, ‘what the f—, dude? Like what?'”

Further clarifying Shelton and Cobolli’s heated moment, Stubbs noted, “if you look at two love, okay, now it’s two love in the tiebreak (final set) and Ben hits a screaming forehand. And he looks down the other end like, ‘Was that it? Was that it?’ So it’s kind of like this back-and-forth. We’ve all done it. It was so out of your a–. Maybe you’re tired. You just like react.” The lesson? Don’t jump to conclusions.

While that’s the ex-WTA pro’s sentiment, what did Shelton think of the entire incident later on? He had a subtle reaction to the media probing of the matter .

Ben Shelton clears the air on friction with Cobolli

After the fourth round victory against the Italian, Ben Shelton was asked about the controversial exchange. But he had nothing much to go on with. “Yeah, we talked about it. He said (the gesture) wasn’t towards me. We’re good.”

Without feeding the press any headlines, he revealed, “We talked about it in the locker room, so I’m not going to answer any more questions about that. There’s no story, we’re good, that’s it, so, thanks.” It was evident that either Shelton really didn’t have much to say or he chose not to.

As of now, his main focus should be on his campaign in Toronto. After besting Cobolli, he recently went past Aussie Alex de Minaur in the quarterfinal on Tuesday night. With that, he’s become the youngest Masters 1000 semi-finalist in two decades. Also, he’s in his maiden semifinal of a 1000 event. Compared to his past two appearances at the Canadian Open (2023 and 2024), where he lost in the third round, the American has earned his best campaign yet.

But the challenge ahead won’t be easy. He will now face his compatriot and in-form Taylor Fritz. In short, fans are in for an all-American encounter. Fritz is coming off his win over Andrey Rublev in the quarterfinal. He may have an edge over Shelton given that their H2H tally is 1-0. Do you think Shelton will overcome Fritz in settling scores this time? Let us know in the comments below.