“She has put everything into her tennis” Denis Shapovalov infuriated with Naomi Osaka’s heckling incident at the 2022 Indian Wells Open

Denis Shapovalov becomes the latest Pro to join on the conversation surrounding Naomi Osaka‘s heckling incident at the 2022 Indian Wells Open during her second-round defeat to Veronika Kudermetova has finally started a conversation in tennis circles about the unwarranted abuse directed towards players.

The former champion in Indian Wells was seen crying in her towel due to a fan shouting, “Naomi you suck,” and the player went on to lose the match 0-6, 4-6 making an early exit. While the individual has not been identified or punished yet, many players have come in support of Naomi over the incident and have brought out their own stories of heckling at tournament sites as well showing how difficult it is for players to keep their minds cool during the matches when some spectators aim at making life difficult for them.

Shapovalov, who made an exit from the tournament in the 3rd round after he lost in a crunch match against Reilly Opelka, talked about the issue of heckling and defended the 4-time Grand Slam champion who is known to have mental health issues since she revealed them last year during the 2021 French Open.

“Obviously most of the people are great. Just certain individuals sometimes. It’s difficult. All you can ask is for them to be escorted out. I think it’s just not respectful for the players. But I don’t think there’s much the umpire of the tournament can do. It’s a shame because there’s no use in saying something like that. Not to speak for Osaka, but I think she’s put everything she can into her tennis. When you step out on the court and someone says ‘You suck’, it sucks. It sucks to hear or feel that,” said Denis as reported by Tennisuptodate.

Denis Shapovalov also talks of the proximity the fans get through social media

With all players having multiple accounts on various social media platforms, the fans can interact easily with their favourite players. While the feature is good to bridge the gap, it is often misused to abuse and say mean things to the players as with social media, users get easy access to the inbox of the players.

“I think most people that write on Instagram, they don’t actually have the b***s to face you upfront and tell you something. I think it happens way more on the media. You need to be careful, just not cope with it but find ways to deal with it,” added Denis using some pretty strong words that direct how difficult it is for the players to endure the unnecessary abuse.

Also Read: Victoria Azarenka deletes her social media accounts after mid-match breakdown at the Indian Wells