‘There’s no point in playing tennis, this is a joke’- Furious Denis Shapovalov attacks umpire in ugly Indian Wells drama


‘There’s no point in playing tennis, this is a joke’- Furious Denis Shapovalov attacks umpire in ugly Indian Wells drama

Denis Shapovalov

Tennis has always been an aggressive sport and things often heat up on court very quickly. The relationship between a player and a chair umpire aren’t always at their best and that was evident in a doubles match at the Indian Wells Masters this week. In a Round of 16 match between Denis Shapovalov/ Rohan Bopanna and Santiago González/ Édouard Roger-Vasselin, Shapovalov and Bopanna got into an ugly fight with the chair umpire.

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During the second set on González’s serve, Shapovalov hit a deep return on the net where the Mexican attempted a volley. Apparently, the ball bounced on his side of the court before going into the other half but to everyone’s surprise, the umpire gave the point to Gonzalez and Roger-Vasselin. The umpire thought that Gonzalez hit a clean volley whereas the ball clearly bounced in his side of the court.

“For me, it was his racket, I couldn’t see any other bounce. I didn’t see it, so I cannot call it if I didn’t see it because he had his racket there,” the chair umpire clarified.

But Bopanna went to her and explained that the ball it the racket first and then the court, hence it had topspin. “It was his racket, then court. That’s why it had topspin on it! That’s why the ball came so quickly because if you put a racket like this, it goes upwards,” the Indian explained.

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‘You shouldn’t be up there’: Denis Shapovalov to chair umpire

Santiago González and Denis Shapovalov
Santiago González and Denis Shapovalov

But Shapovalov was furious with the call. He lashed out at the umpire and said that if she isn’t able to see such a basic call, it is a joke and there’s no point in playing tennis. He also added that there’s no point in her being on the chair if she doesn’t understand basic tennis.

“If you don’t see this, this is a joke. There’s no point in playing if you don’t see something like that. If you don’t see something like THAT, there’s no point in you being up there. Can you agree with me? I mean it’s basic tennis,” Shapovalov said.

Denis Shapovalov
Denis Shapovalov

Bopanna once again asked her what she thought of the point and explained basic physics to her. “So you’re saying the ball bounced or not? Did it ever bounce? When a ball hits the racket, it goes upwards not downwards. So if you’re going downwards, hits the racket first and the ball,” he said.

Shapovalov ended the argument by saying that it was the cleanest shot into the court he has ever seen in his life and yelled that the umpire shouldn’t be up there. “I mean that was the cleanest shot into the court I have ever seen in my life! You shouldn’t be up there, you shouldn’t!” he said.

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Also read: ‘He’s one of the toughest opponents without a doubt,’ Rafael Nadal wary of ‘very tough’ Nick Kyrgios test at Indian Wells