Shelton & Cobolli in Tense Exchange After Toronto Tennis Match

Things got pretty heated between Ben Shelton and Flavio Cobolli after their fourth-round showdown at the 2025 Canadian Open in Toronto.

Shelton won 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(1) to book his spot in the quarterfinals, but the real drama happened right after the final point.

The American walked to the net looking seriously ticked off. You could tell something had gone down during the match that didn’t sit well with him.

The heated exchange

As soon as they shook hands, both players started going at it. Shelton was upset about some gesture Cobolli made during that crucial third-set tiebreak.

Cobolli tried explaining it was just him venting his frustration – nothing personal against Shelton.

That seemed to calm things down for a moment. Both guys shook the umpire’s hand and headed to their chairs like normal.

But they weren’t done yet.

While Shelton was changing his shirt and Cobolli was packing up, they started talking again near the umpire’s chair. The Italian kept trying to explain his side of things.

Here’s where it gets interesting. According to what happened on court, Shelton said they were friends – which is actually why the gesture bothered him so much.

Cobolli fired back with a pretty good point. He basically told Shelton that since the American is known for being loud and emotional on court himself, he can’t get mad when someone else shows emotion.

The whole thing was a bit awkward since Cobolli’s English isn’t perfect, and both guys were still fired up from the match. But they eventually worked it out and shook hands again, with umpire James Keothavong watching the whole thing unfold.

It makes sense they know each other pretty well – both players are sponsored by On, so they’ve probably hung out at company events before.

Shelton clears the air

When reporters asked Shelton about it afterward, he kept things pretty simple:

“Yeah, we talked about it. He said it wasn’t towards me. We’re good. We talked about it in the locker room, so I’m not going to answer any more questions about that. There’s no story, we’re good, that’s it, so, thanks.”

Fair enough. These things happen when you’ve got two competitive guys battling it out in a Masters 1000 event that goes to a third-set tiebreak.

The emotions were running incredibly high in what turned into a late-evening match.

Looking ahead to de Minaur

While Cobolli heads to Cincinnati for the next big tournament, Shelton’s got Alex de Minaur waiting for him in the quarterfinals.

And he’s pretty pumped about it.

“Yeah, he’s a dawg. I’m ready for it. And for people who haven’t heard that saying, that’s a good thing (laughing). He’s very fast. He’s in a great rhythm, you saw what he did in DC.”

Shelton’s talking about de Minaur’s recent title win in Washington, where the Aussie looked absolutely unstoppable.

“He’s a great front runner, and you can never count him out when he’s down. So I’m prepared for a war. I’m really excited. It’s our first matchup.”

It’ll be their first official match, though they’ve practiced together before. Shelton seems to really respect how hard de Minaur goes even in practice sessions.

“He puts it on the line in practice as well, that’s one of the things that I love about him. Yeah, I’m really excited.”

“I love playing against, you know, some of the best players in the world in late stages of tournaments, so that’s the only thing that you can hope for. He’s playing amazing tennis. You guys saw it last week in DC.”

De Minaur is currently ranked in the top 10 and has been on a tear lately. The guy’s speed around the court is pretty amazing – he gets to balls that most players can’t even dream of reaching.

Should be a hell of a match between two players who definitely aren’t afraid to show their emotions on court.