A BBC commentator has pleaded with Ben Shelton’s sister’s employer to give her more time off – after the Wimbledon crowd BOOED her job.
American No10 seed Shelton booked a Wimbledon quarter-final date with Jannik Sinner to extend his time in SW19.
He came from a set down to beat Lorenzo Sonego 3-6 6-1 7-6 7-5 on No1 Court.
And in his player box once again was his sister Emma.
After the previous round, Shelton gave a shoutout to his sibling – and revealed she worked for investment banker Morgan Stanley.
That led to a hilarious reaction from the crowd who jokingly booed, with Emma covering her face in embarrassment.
Shelton said: “My parents are here, my girlfriend’s here. Also, my sister’s here. She’s been here for every match I’ve played at this tournament so far.
“She’s been the lucky charm but she has work back in the US starting on Monday. She works for Morgan Stanley…
“Hey! Come on now! She works for Morgan Stanley so if any of you all have any connections, get her a couple of days off so she can (stay) we can keep this rolling that would be great.”
After Shelton beat Sonego, BBC pundit Tracy Austin also put out a plea to Morgan Stanley to get Emma a few extra days off – especially if Shelton reaches Sunday’s final.
She said: “He loves playing on the big stages, he seems to play his best tennis at the Majors because there is more fanfare, more media, more eyeballs on him.
“He loves it. He is a physical specimen.
“His sister works for Morgan Stanley, and Ben the other day said she is his good-luck charm.
“She has to go back to work unless anybody knows the people higher up at Morgan Stanley maybe they can give her an extra few days off.
“Morgan Stanley, that’s the best thing they could do for Emma.”
BBC presenter Clare Balding chipped in and agreed: “They’ve loved it, they have given her the whole week.”
After beating Sonego, Shelton – who had cupping marks on his shoulder – awkwardly corrected Annabel Croft in his post-match interview.
He confirmed to the BBC presenter that he had previously been a “quarterback” rather than a “quarterbacker” as Croft suggested.
He then said: “That’s the most important thing to me.
“I don’t wanna be out here by myself, I want to be doing it with people I love and I’ve got a love of people that I love over there.”
Emma sat alongside their parents Bryan and Lisa plus Shelton’s new girlfriend and US national team football star Trinity Rodman yet again on Monday.
Rodman, the daughter of NBA legend Dennis Rodman, rocked a stunning two-piece blue outfit as she cheered her man on.
But BBC commentator Andrew Castle came under fire for referring to her as “Tiffany” instead of “Trinity”.
Sinner progressed through to the quarters despite injuring his elbow and trailing by two sets against Grigor Dimitrov.
But Dimitrov had to retire suddenly after appearing to tear a pectoral muscle while serving early in the third set and withdrew in tears.
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