Ben Shelton refuses to let Monte-Carlo Masters doubles controversy affect him

Ben Shelton defended himself amid the doubles controversy at the Monte-Carlo Masters. The American tennis star was in the limelight after he untintenionally struck his opponent during a doubles match in Monte-Carlo which led to an injury.

Shelton partnered with Rohan Bopanna at the Monte-Carlo Masters in the men's doubles event. They faced the Italian pair of Andrea Vavassori and Simone Bolelli in the second round of the Masters 1000 event.

Early in the match, Shelton struck Vavassori in the body and apologized soon after. However, much later, after the Indo-American pair earned a 2-6, 7-6, 10-7 win, Vavassori complained about the hit to Shelton during their customary handshake at the net.

Shelton then said:

"It's tennis.. not baseball..So soft, so sof..Vamos.."

Controversy erupted after this incident, more so, after Vavassori withdrew from Barcelona due to the injury caused by the hit.

Days later, after earning his first win in the singles event at the Bavarian International in Munich, Shelton was asked about the issue by Tennis Channel. The 22-year-old explained his side of things and claimed he was going to continue be himself.

"It was a normal tennis play. My shot was going in. I feel like getting hit is a normal part of doubles, and a few games later, his partner hit me 100 miles an hour in the middle of the chest. So, I didn't think that there was any issue with the way that I played and the way that it happened," Ben Shelton said (from 2:10).

"I was kind of surprised that, after being [hit in] the second game and we played a whole match, two hours later he said something. He said that I was in the wrong at the handshake.. Yeah, I'm going to keep doing me, and I know I didn't do anything wrong," he added.

Shelton and Bopanna lost in the quartfinals of the event.

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Ben Shelton and Rohan Bopanna return to play at the Bavarian International together

Ben Shelton and Rohan Bopanna at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters - Source: Getty

Ben Shelton and Rohan Bopanna, a partnership which has an age gap of 18 years, will return to play at the Bavarian International after their multiple outings at the Monte-Carlo Masters.

Shelton is also playing singles at the event in Munich and he earned a first-round win over Borna Gojo on Monday, April 15. It was a tough outing for the World No. 15 against the World No. 410. Gojo who won the frist set and took the second into a tiebreaker but Shelton's expreience at the top level helped him pull out a win from a dire situation.

In Munich, Shelton and Bopanna face a tought task of playing the fourth seed pairing of Jamie Murray and Rajeev Ram in the first round.