Ben Shelton calling out Australian Open broadcasters for 'dad' comment controversy earns tennis insider's respect

Ben Shelton created some headlines at the Australian Open when he purposefully extended his press conference a little bit after the reporters were done asking questions. The reason why he did it was to comment on something that had been irritating him for a couple of days.

The American went on a mini-rant about how some of the on-court interviews conducted at the event were disrespectful towards the players. He also named a few examples, including one that happened to him after the match with Gael Monfils.

After that match, Shelton took offense at how he was asked about Monfils because the question featured a joke where it was implied that Monfils could be Shelton's dad because of his age. Shelton did not like that and voiced his displeasure for it in the post-match press conference.

Noted tennis journalist Jon Wertheim shared his thoughts on the matter on social media platform X, where he credited Shelton with speaking out. However, he underlined that "tennis media" as a term shouldn't be synonymous with individual reporters.

"I respect that Shelton came with specific receipts, and it wasn’t simply “the media sucks”… Valid complaint/point for discussion. Can I encourage differentiation among locals doing cringe on-court interviews; an aggressively unfunny/lame live TV segment; “the tennis media”?

Wertheim has been covering the sport for a very long time, including working with former fellow player Andy Roddick, with whom he collaborated on the Tennis Channel as well as on the podcast for the former player. He's seen it all, but still likes to differentiate the tennis media from individual people because he is part of the tennis media.

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Jon Wertheim's comment controversy

Wertheim is no stranger to controversies because he has found himself in a couple of them. The most recent one was with noted tennis player Barbora Krejcikova. It was during the WTA Finals when his comment about Krejcikova became part of the live broadcast, which he wasn't aware of.

The comment itself was hugely problematic because he made fun of her forehead, which made it into the live broadcast, resulting in a harsh reaction by Krejcikova when she found out about it. Wertheim then posted an apology and an explanation, which didn't sway public opinion too much in his favour. In the end, Wertheim simply owned up his appalling move and apologized.

“I realise I am not the victim here. It was neither professional nor charitable nor reflective of the person I strive to be. I am accountable. I own this. I am sorry," Wertheim said in a statement via The Guardian.

Either way, it's proof that he knows a thing or two about disparaging comments, though it became public discourse inadvertently as opposed to the interviews that were done in a live broadcast and seemingly on purpose.