Italian doubles world No. 6 Andrea Vavassori shared his thoughts on the contentious situation involving American tennis player Ben Shelton during their doubles encounter at the Monte-Carlo Masters.
“Regarding Shelton, generally, I didn`t like his behavior,” Vavassori stated. “But now it depends on him. If he comes up and apologizes for mocking me because of my rib injury, then I will forgive him. I always forgive; I can immediately forget what happened, but only if he takes the first step towards apologizing. I certainly won`t take that step first. I told him during that match to be more careful when hitting hard from so close, because he could injure an opponent. He injured my rib. I was angry because of that injury, and when I watched the video afterward, I found it unpleasant that he was making fun of me. He essentially injured me and then mocked me.”
It`s worth remembering that during their second-round doubles match at the Monte-Carlo Masters, where Ben Shelton and Rohan Bopanna faced Andrea Vavassori and Simone Bolelli, Vavassori repeatedly complained about Shelton`s aggressive play, which resulted in one shot hitting his body. Following this match, it was reported that Vavassori had to withdraw from the ATP 500 tournament in Barcelona due to a rib contusion.
