'Shut the f*** up!' – Shapovalov screams at crowd after umpire row boils over

Denis Shapovalov screamed “shut the f*** up” to the crowd after a furious row with the chair umpire in his first-round match at the Italian Open.

Shapovalov was leading 7-6(4) 3-4 against Lorenzo Sonego when a second serve was called out by the Italian.

Initially umpire Richard Haigh awarded the point to Shapovalov after Sonego hit his return out, but he then went for a closer look at the mark and overruled the line judge which put the players back on deuce.

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Shapovalov said: “That’s the mark right there you see.” The Canadian then climbed over the net before pointing it out again.

ATP rules state you cannot cross onto the opponent’s side of the net at any point in a match. Shapovalov had already been given a warning for an earlier incident.

Haigh said: “I understand it was a kick serve, that’s the mark I had but I didn’t think it was that short. Denis, listen, because you crossed the net you’re going to get another code violation. You can’t cross the net.”

Shapovalov: “No way! Come on I was just showing you the mark. Call the supervisor that’s b*******! That’s so unfair.”

Haigh: “Listen, Denis, I know what you were doing.”

Shapovalov: “I’m not doing anything unsportsmanlike. How can you give me a point penalty for that?”

Haigh: “That’s just the rule.”

Shapovalov: “No it’s not it’s stupid. That’s so unfair. Call the supervisor I showed you the mark.”

After Shapovalov made the same point to the supervisor on the side of court, he screamed towards the booing crowd “shut the f*** up!” and was subsequently given a game penalty.

Shapovalov then asked Haigh to kick a spectator out for what the Canadian believed to be someone heckling him.

After Haigh said he would not eject the spectator because he was not sure what Shapovalov saw, the 23-year-old said: “This is not a tennis match anymore.”

Shapovalov went on to win the fiery contest 7-6(5) 3-6 6-3 in three hours and 11 minutes and apologised to Haigh for his conduct afterwards.

In January, Shapovalov got into bother at the Australian Open quarter-finals when he accused match umpire Carlos Bernardes of being “corrupt” over what he thought was Rafael Nadal’s slow play.

The world No. 14 was previously fined $7000 (£5,690) in 2017 after being defaulted for unsportsmanlike conduct for unintentionally striking chair umpire Arnaud Gabas in the eye with a ball during Canada’s tie against Great Britain at the Davis Cup. Gabas suffered a fractured eye socket.

‘You guys are all corrupt!’ – Shapovalov in angry outburst at umpire over Nadal conduct

Shapovalov is not the first player to have had an angry outburst at the Italian Open.

In 2019, Nick Kyrgios was given a game penalty during his second round match against Norway’s Casper Ruud for apparently swearing at a line judge, then slammed down his racquet, kicked a water bottle and hurled a chair onto the court. Kyrgios walked off the court before he could be officially defaulted by the match referee.

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