WATCH: Denis Shapovalov gets defaulted in Washington – and swears at tournament supervisor

Oli Dickson Jefford 03 Aug 2024 10:41 AM

Denis Shapovalov was disqualified at the Citi DC Open

Denis Shapovalov was defaulted from his Citi DC Open quarter-final

Denis Shapovalov was sensationally defaulted from his Citi DC Open quarter-final against Ben Shelton after appearing to swear at a member of the crowd – before turning his ire onto the tournament supervisor Roland Herfel.

After losing the first set to home favourite Shelton in a tiebreak, the Canadian was 6-3 down in the second set tiebreak and facing three match points when the controversy took place.

Having lost the point to hand his opponent the match points, Shapovalov twice threw his racket to the ground – and then said something directly to a member of the crowd, who allegedly had said something to him previously.

This immediately came to the attention of the umpire, who called Herfel onto the court – with the 25-year-old’s disqualification then made official.

Neither Shapovalov nor Shelton could seemingly quite believe what had happened, with the American appearing to tell his rival that he thought the decision was unfair.

However, that was not the end of it, with former Wimbledon semi-finalist Shapovalov swearing at Herfel after the decision had been confirmed.

Not the ending we expected

With Ben Shelton leading triple match point Denis Shapovalov is defaulted @mubadalacitidc pic.twitter.com/F8FetSk3nk

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) August 3, 2024

Part of the rant was inaudible, but at one stage he clearly said: “I’ve worked hard all my life…f**k you.”

Shapovalov will likely face further punishment for that final outburst, but will automatically receive some punishment for the default.

The Canadian will be stripped of the prize money and ranking points he had earned in the US capital – a significant blow for the world No 139, who is looking to restore his ranking after a wrist injury.

Unfortunately for Shapovalov, it is not the first time he has been defaulted.

As a teenager, he was infamously disqualified from a Davis Cup match against Great Britain after smashing a ball directly at umpire Arnaud Gabas.

Victory for Shelton, admittedly in unusual fashion, sends him into the last four – and the second seed is the highest-ranked player left in the draw.

The world No 14 faces 10th seed Flavio Cobolli in the semi-final later on Saturday, while Frances Tiafoe and Sebastian Korda will contest an all-American semi-final.

Fourth seed Korda breezed past Jordan Thompson in the last eight, while fifth seed Tiafoe defeated top seed and world No 9 Andrey Rublev.