Shamed Shapovalov fined for umpire strike
SHAME-FACED Denis Shapovalov apologised for letting his country down after his default for hitting umpire Arnaud Gabas in the eye with a ball handed Great Britain a dramatic Davis Cup victory over Canada.
The 17-year-old was trailing Kyle Edmund 6-3, 6-4, 2-1 and had just had his serve broken in the third set when he smashed a ball in anger that struck Gabas.
It was clearly not intentional from the Wimbledon junior champion but, with Gabas in obvious pain, tie referee Brian Earley had no choice but to halt the match and leave Britain the victors.
There were boos from the crowd at the TD Place Arena, who had earlier roared Vasek Pospisil to a 7-6 (7/3), 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7/5) victory over Dan Evans that set up the deciding rubber.
An emotional Shapovalov, who was playing in only his second Davis Cup tie, said: ‘’I feel incredibly ashamed and embarrassed and 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.’’
The International Tennis Federation announced Gabas had bruising and swelling to his left eye and had been sent to Ottawa General Hospital for a precautionary evaluation.
Shapovalov was last night handeda £5600 fine and warned about his conduct but escaped a ban. The incident brought back memories of the 2012 final at Queen’s Club, when David Nalbandian was defaulted for kicking an advertising hoarding against the leg of a line judge.
Tim Henman, meanwhile, was defaulted at Wimbledon in 1995 after striking a ball girl with a ball hit in anger.
Canada captain Martin Laurendeau accepted the decision was the only possible course of action but said he would have no qualms about picking Shapovalov in the fu- ture. He said: “This is the biggest venue we’ve ever played in and, of all the cubic footage out there, the ball found its way into the umpire’s eye. It’s unfortunate. Hopefully this makes Denis a stronger person, a better player but a better person.’’
Rafael Nadal is to play at this summer’s Aegon Championships at Queen’s Club. The 14-time grand slam champion won the tournament in 2008 prior to clinching his first Wimbledon title with victory over Roger Federer.