WATCH: Denis Shapovalov explodes at rowdy spectator and asks him to shut up at the 2023 Australian Open

The 25-year-old was not happy with the over the top cheering from fans in the 1573 Arena in Melbourne


WATCH: Denis Shapovalov explodes at rowdy spectator and asks him to shut up at the 2023 Australian Open

Denis Shapovalov

During his second-round match against Taro Daniel, Denis Shapovalov complained about some rowdy spectators and told one of them to “shut up.” The incident occurred when the 20th seed faced a triple break point. Before the point, Shapovalov went to chair umpire Julie Kjendlie and complained that some spectators seemed to have had “a beer too much” and were interfering with the play.

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Shapovalov is seen walking to the umpire’s chair, saying,” It’s so excessive. I mean they don’t need to be doing that, they had a beer too much and now they’re like fooling around, you know.” While he is moving towards the umpire, a fan heckles him loudly. Shapovalov immediately rebukes him by saying,” Shut up!” The umpire seemed to gesture that she couldn’t do anything in the matter.

The 23-year-old accepted the explanation and walked back to the baseline saying,” I understand but it’s excessive.” Shapovalov saved the three break points and won the set 6-3. The commentators sympathized with the Canadian but said that the distractions are part of the game.

The overeager fans didn’t distract Shapovalov from the game, however. The tennis star built on his first-round win over Croatian Dusan Lajovic to secure his place in the third round of the 2023 Australian Open championship.

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Denis Shapovalov wins second round match

Denis Shapovalov celebrates
Denis Shapovalov celebrates

Shapovalov beat Japan’s Taro Daniel in straight sets to proceed to the third round. The 6-3,7-6(7),7-5 win featured brilliant plays from Shapovalov. The Canadian hit eight aces to Daniel’s one and had a 73% first-serve win rate.

He broke Daniel six times out of nine and fired off 53 winners. Shapovalov had a more challenging time in the second set, being pushed into a tiebreak. But he was able to play his way to a win. He finished things off in this 2019 Australian Open second-round fixture rematch.

Shapovalov will now face World No.10 Hubert Hurkacz in the third round. He will be vary of his opponent as he is trailing 1-3 in the head to head. The last time they faced each other was in 2021 at the ATP Masters 1000 in Miami, where Hurkacz won. But with the high stakes of a Grand Slam tournament, past victories will not matter on the courts of Melbourne.

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