
Unbelievable drama captured headlines at the Washington Open quarter-finals when former world No.10 Denis Shapovalov was disqualified at a pivotal stage in the second set.
Trailing 6-7(5), 6-6 and facing three match points in the tiebreak against local Ben Shelton, the Canadian angrily threw his racquet and hurled audible obscenity at a member of the crowd.
Having already received a code violation earlier for racquet abuse, the chair umpire made the controversial decision to disqualify Shapovalov and abruptly end the contest.
Perplexed and frustrated by the decision, Shapovalov was heard saying to the umpire, "What are you talking about? Give me a code (violation)... he's (crowd member) talking to me and I'm going to tell him off. That's not fair. How do you not hear what he says but hear what I said?"
After a long discussion with the tournament supervisor and an unwillingness to accept the result, the 25-year-old will now lose all of his rankings points and prize money from this week.
Shelton also did not agree with the decision and defended his opponent by arguing, “It’s 7-6, 6-6 in the tiebreak, that’s what you do!”
While muttering further obscenities toward the umpire, Shapovalov continued to plead his case by saying, "This is not fair! I worked so hard all my life."
It means Shelton will now face Italy's Flavio Cobolli in the semi-finals tomorrow at 9am AEST.
This is not the first default of Shapovalov's career - infamously hitting chair umpire Arnaud Gabas in the eye with a ball during a Davis Cup tie against Great Britain in February 2017.
Responsible for fracturing an orbital bone under Gabas' left eye, the then 17-year-old admitted he was "incredibly ashamed and embarrassed."
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