COCO Gauff was left hanging by Ben Shelton as she went to high-five him during their mixed doubles match last night.
The American duo played together in the inaugural Mixed Madness exhibition event on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
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Coco Gauff went to high-five Ben Shelton[/caption]
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The reigning US Open champion was left hanging[/caption]
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Gauff, 20, smiled as she laughed in exasperation[/caption]
In their semi-final, Gauff and Shelton took on tennis couple Stefanos Tsitsipas and Paula Badosa.
With Tsitsipas and Badosa leading 2-1, Gauff served to the latter at 40-30.
The Spaniard returned at Shelton, who put away a nice volley at the net to level the set at 2-2.
Gauff ran over to her beaming partner, who pumped both fists.
The reigning US Open champion went to high-five Shelton, only to be completely blanked.
Not noticing his partner’s outstretched hand, last year’s semi-finalist turned around and raised his racquet into the air.
Shunned, Gauff smiled as she clapped her hands and turned in exasperation.
The US Open’s X feed posted the clip, captioning it, “Ben Shelton on defense! And then leaves Coco hanging.”
Fans on social media were quick to notice the awkward interaction.
“This is one of the most Ben Shelton things Ben Shelton has ever done,” one joked.
“Poor Coco,” a second wrote.
“Bennnn lol left Coco hanging,” a third pointed out.
“They’re so awkward,” another added.
Gauff and Shelton went on to lose 6-4 to Tsitsipas and Badosa.
‘A TENNIS DATE’
Their conquerors later faced Amanda Anisimova and Taylor Fritz in the final, after the other American duo had taken care of Nick Kyrgios and two-time former US Open champion Naomi Osaka.
Tsitsipas and Badosa won the final 6-4, claiming $250,000 in prize money, before confirming that they would be entering the mixed doubles draw at the upcoming US Open.
“Hopefully they’ll come out and cheer us on and we’ll have the same result we had tonight,” Badosa said.
Tsitsipas also gushed over their tennis date night.
“I would say this is like a tennis date,” he said during the match. “A mixed doubles match at Arthur Ashe Stadium is probably one of the coolest dates I could have asked for.”
“I’m super grateful that we were able to produce good tennis but also in combination with having a good time,” Tsitsipas went on to add. “To be able to share that with that special person that you spend most of your life with is… What a great night.”