'It drives me nuts!' - Rennae Stubbs irate at TV crew missing exchange between Ben Shelton and Flavio Cobolli at Canadian Open

The fourth round of the 2025 Canadian Open featured some controversy as Ben Shelton was briefly engaged in a tense moment with opponent Flavio Cobolli. However, most television viewers did not get to witness the incident, prompting former tennis player Rennae Stubbs to lash out on social media.

Shelton has been in great form during the North American hard court season. The American enjoyed a solid semifinal run at last week's DC Open, and has carried his momentum over to the ATP Masters 1000 event in Toronto.

Conversely, Cobolli has also been playing some great tennis during the second half of the season. The Italian reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, losing to Novak Djokovic. Subsequently, Cobolli has shown flashes of brilliance during his run in North America.

Both men overcame three-set matches to set up their round of 16 encounter. Although Shelton would prevail after a third set tiebreak, there was an incident at the start of the tiebreak that could have escalated but cooler minds prevailed.

Stubbs upset TV production was more focused on the crowd

During the gesture, Cobolli lost a point and made a gesture which Shelton believed was directed at himself. The American appeared visibly upset, and made some inaudible comments towards Cobolli. However, play would resume with Shelton emerging victorious.

Following the match, both men would have a long conversation at the net. Subsequently, Shelton would later say that Cobolli had clarified his actions and the gesture was not directed towards the American.

However, much of the initial exchange, including the gesture made by Cobolli, was not captured on camera. This prompted former doubles specialist Rennae Stubbs to take to social media to complain about the television production, questioning why producers often choose to focus on members of the crowd instead of the action on court during these instances.

"Also while I’m here for a second can i PLEASE BEG every producer working in tennis to STOP SHOWING THE BLOODY CROWD every single point! Like we missed the little exchange and didn’t have a replay last night of what Cobolli did, because we had a crowd shot AGAIN! drives me nuts!" wrote Stubbs on Twitter.

Shelton will face Australian Alex De Minaur for a spot in the semifinals, after the ninth seed defeated American Frances Tiafoe in their fourth round match.