"Yikes, this is disappointing" - Ben Shelton following US presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy comes to light, leaves fans dismayed

Several tennis fans have been left disappointed upon learning that Ben Shelton follows controversial US presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy on social media.

Shelton defeated 10th seed and compatriot Frances Tiafoe 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (7), 6-2 on Tuesday to secure his spot in the semifinals of the 2023 US Open. The win also made him the youngest American US Open semi-finalist in three decades.

After the match, however, a fan dug deep into Shelton's social media and discovered that he was following Vivek Ramaswamy, a presidential candidate from the Republican Party. Ramaswamy's ambitions and political ideologies are far from conventional, making him a rather polarizing figure on the internet.

In that context, many tennis fans were shocked to learn about Shelton's apparent support for Ramaswamy.

"Yikes - this is disappointing," one of the fans posted.

Another fan expressed their disappointment in Ben Shelton for choosing to follow Vivek Ramaswamy, causing them to quickly lose their support for him.

"Great, let me unstan real quick..." a fan posted.

Here are a few more fan reactions:

---

Ben Shelton will take on Novak Djokovic in the semifinals of the US Open 2023

Ben Shelton at the 2023 US Open

After defeating Frances Tiafoe, Ben Shelton faces a formidable opponent in the form of Novak Djokovic, whom he will go up against in the US Open semifinals.

Speaking about the upcoming match, Shelton acknowledged the immense difficulty of the challenge and praised Djokovic's unwavering mindset.

"Yeah, definitely a tough challenge. I think that whenever you play somebody for the first time and someone who has been in this situation so many times and come out victorious so many times, that's in the back of your head. You just know how, you know, rock solid the guy is and how mentally tough, how physically tough. So that's definitely something that I have to game-plan for," Shelton said at the post-match press conference.

The American asserted, however, that his game style will provide him with an advantage over Djokovic, as the 23-time Grand Slam champion has not faced him previously.

"I also think that, you know, it's an advantage with my game style playing someone who's never played me before. I think that I can bring some things to the table that maybe you don't see in your normal match that you play on the ATP tour. So I'm definitely going to try to bring some things to the table that are different and hopefully disruptive on Friday," Shelton added.

If Ben Shelton manages to defeat Novak Djokovic, he will become the first American man to reach the US Open final since Andy Roddick in 2006.