Ben Shelton's dad makes complaint about Alexander Zverev's behaviour

Ben Shelton's father and tennis coach, Bryan, voiced his frustration over Alexander Zverev's serving routine during the US Open final, following Karen Khachanov's complaints about the same habit in the previous round. Zverev's drawn-out service game was a hot topic throughout the US Open, with ESPN reporting that he bounced the ball a staggering 12,040 times during the tournament. Khachanov revealed that the habit irritates a number of players on the ATP Tour, and tensions surrounding the issue came to a head once again in the final.

Shelton was spotted in conversation with the umpire, and Zverev was promptly asked to be "a little bit quicker" as the crowd grew restless during his service game. Bryan Shelton spoke to ESPN during the US Open final and couldn't resist raising the subject of Zverev's serve. Following Shelton's defeat in the opening set, Bryan was asked what adjustments his son could make to turn things around in the second.

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"I think just little things," he said. "You know, Ben was pressing a little bit with the serve. Just got to relax on that a little bit more and hit his targets.

"Obviously, the kick out to Sasha's forehand can be effective. He's just got to use that a little bit more and then just get used to the rhythm of returning.

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"You know, Sasha bounces the ball so many times it just kind of puts you off. But, you know, we've had a set of that now. So I think Ben will relax, find his rhythm there, and play with a little more shape on his backhand side, where he's made some net errors.

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"But just relax a little bit more and get forward when he gets an opportunity besides playing better."

Bryan's acknowledgement of the sluggish service game was relatively understated, despite ESPN's separate claim that Zverev spent over two hours bouncing the ball at the US Open.

Following his semi-final victory over Khachanov, Zverev had left his opponent visibly frustrated.

"I mean, the way he bounces the ball, look, it annoys not only me, of course, a lot of players, because it takes so much time, really," Khachanov said of Zverev's serve.

"You don't know how to prepare for the serve. You are, like, ready, and then it's another 12 bounces, so you again do a split step. You kind of try yourself, but every point like that.

"At the end of the day, if it's within the rules with the time between points, I cannot say anything against that, because it's within the rules, you know? If he extends the time, then gets time violation, so it's pretty simple as that."

While ball-bouncing has noticeably increased this year, Zverev has maintained his innocence, insisting the habit is entirely unintentional. "I have no idea why," Zverev said about his ball-bouncing ahead of the final.

"I'm not doing it on purpose. I saw the stat. Like, I bounced it 12,000 times or something like that. That's quite funny. I'm not counting in my head. I'm not getting a certain number or anything like that."

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