Ouch. Displays of anger in tennis are not uncommon (ask a certain Nick Kyrgios), but this one probably had the most severe repercussions.
Canada’s 17-year-old Denis Shapovalov hit the chair umpire with the ball during his Davis Cup clash against England’s Kyle Edmund. In the process, Shapovalov defaulted and lost the match to give Great Britain a quarter-finals berth. Britain will now face France away in the quarter-finals in April.
Edmund had broken Shapovalov’s serve to lead 6-3, 6-4, 2-1 when frustration got the better of the young man, who won the junior Wimbledon title last year. French umpire Arnaud Gabas was hit in the eye by a ball that was struck with great velocity.
To his credit, Shapovalov immediately tried to apologie for his mistake, which looked like more of an accident. He meant to hit the ball into the crowd but, changed his intention midway. Gabas was handed an ice-pack as the match was called-off.
“It was a strange way to finish,” said Edmund to BBC. “I’ve never been part of something like that.”
“Luckily he was OK but obviously it’s unacceptable behaviour from me,” rued Shapovalov. “I just feel awful for letting my team down, for letting my country down, for acting in a way that I would never want to act. I can promise that’s the last time I will do anything like that. I’m going to learn from this and try to move past it.”
