Watch: Ben Shelton does his signature hanging up the phone celebration on Laver Cup black carpet

Ben Shelton pictured at the Laver Cup black carpet event
Ben Shelton pictured at the Laver Cup black carpet event

The young American sensation Ben Shelton brought out his signature celebration on the black carpet event of the 2023 Laver Cup in Vancouver, Canada.

Shelton first debuted his now-popular celebration at the US Open this year. He famously marked his quarterfinal win against Frances Tiafoe by picking an imaginary telephone and hanging it up.

The celebration has since been imitated by several players. That includes World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, who did it after bettering Shelton in the semifinal at Flushing Meadows, and Italian Lorenzo Musetti at the 2023 Davis Cup Finals last week.

Ben Shelton is making his debut at the Laver Cup this year, and he hit the black carpet event before the start of the main event on September 22. He once again picked up the imaginary phone and hung it up for the camera, with the video of his celebration going viral on social media.

Shelton will kick off his Laver Cup in the singles rubber against Arthur Fils of Team Europe. Alongside the 20-year-old, Team World features Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe, Tommy Paul, Felix Auger-Aliassime, and Francisco Cerundolo, with John McEnroe as captain and Patrick McEnroe as vice-captain.

Casper Ruud, Andrey Rublev, Hubert Hurkacz, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, Arthur Fils and Gael Monfils will play for Team Europe this year, with Bjorn Borg as captain and Thomas Enqvist as vice-captain.

In other matches on Day 1, Davidovich Fokina will face off against Cerundolo, and Monfils will be up against Auger-Aliassime. Rublev and Fils will later compete against Paul and Tiafoe in the first doubles match.


Ben Shelton reached his maiden Grand Slam semifinal at US Open 2023

Ben Shelton pictured at the US Open 2023
Ben Shelton pictured at the US Open 2023

Ben Shelton has arrived in Vancouver fresh off achieving a major career milestone at the US Open. The home favorite reached the final four in New York for the first time in his career, and shot up to his best-ever ranking of World No. 19.

Shelton bettered Pedro Cachin, former US Open champion Dominic Thiem, Aslan Karatsev, No. 14 seed Tommy Paul, and No. 10 seed Frances Tiafoe before being defeated by eventual champion Novak Djokovic.

This was only the second time in 2023 that Shelton won consecutive matches in a Grand Slam tournament. He accomplished the feat for the first time at the Australian Open, where he reached his first Major quarterfinal.

In Melbourne, the Atlanta native downed Zhang Zhizhen, Nicolás Jarry, Alexei Popyrin, and JJ Wolf. However, his fairytale run was cut short by compatriot Tommy Paul.

After his first appearance at a Grand Slam, Shelton experienced a slump and could not find his footing again until New York. The 20-year-old would now be hoping to maintain his momentum for the remainder of the 2023 season.

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Edited by Pritha Ghosh
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