Shapovalov smashes ball into umpire’s face to gift GB victory

GREAT BRITAIN won their Davis Cup tie against Canada in dramatic fashion after teenager Denis Shapovalov was defaulted for hitting a ball into the face of umpire Arnaud Gabas.

Shapovalov was trailing Kyle Edmund 6-3, 6-4, 2-1 and had just been broken in the third set when he smashed a ball in anger that struck Gabas.

It was clearly not intentional from the 17-year-oldWimbledon junior champion but, with Gabas holding his face in pain, tie referee Brian Earley had no choice but to rule a default 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.

Britain now move through to a quarter-final in France in April.

In what was a thrilling contest earlier, Evans recovered from two sets and a break down to lead in the fourth set but Pospisil delighted the raucous home crowd by pulling off a memorable win.

Stand-in British No.1 Evans went into the clash as the favourite on both form and ranking – 45 to 133 – while Pospisil was publicly wavering about whether to play on Saturday evening because of a knee problem. But the fast court played to his strengths – he served 25 aces and hit 36 forehand winners – and in the end he overpowered his smaller opponent. Pospisil leapt high and threw his racket in the air at the moment of victory. “It feels incredible,” he said.

The result will be a big disappointment for Evans, who came into the tie in the form of his life after reaching the fourth round of the Australian Open.

This could have been Milos Raonic against Andy Murray, but what the match lacked in star power it more than made up for in drama. Pospisil has plummeted down the rankings from a high of 25 in 2014, winning just 10 tourlevel matches in 13 months prior to this tie. But the 26-year-old still represented Canada’s big chance, with his potential replacement Peter Polansky inexperienced at this level.

The Canadian had been bullish about his chances ahead of the clash, claiming the match was on his racket, and he backed it up on the court. Evans appeared irritated by shouts from the Canadian bench and exchanged words with the umpire but most of his frustration was directed at his opponent.

Nobody could have predicted what was to follow, however . . .