Tennis Star Denis Shapovalov Shouts Back At Italian Open Hecklers: 'Shut The F*** Up'
It turns out that NBA players aren't the only athletes growing tired of fans overstepping their boundaries at sporting events.
Canadian tennis star Denis Shapovalov was serving at 3-4 down against Lorenzo Sonego in the Italian Open Monday, when Sonego's return was initially ruled as out, before umpire Richard Haigh wanted a closer look. Haigh determined that the return was in and the point was awarded to Sonego.
Haigh's ruling sent Shapovalov into a frenzy, who climbed over the net to Sonego's side, which is not allowed under ATP rules. Shapovalov was intending to show Haigh the mark before a chorus of boos rained down from the pro-Sonego crowd.
And that's when Shapovalov lost it.
"Shut the f*** up," Shapovalov shouted back at the Italian Open crowd.
He went on to say after the match -- which he won 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 6-3 in three hours and 11 minutes -- that he thinks ATP security should deal with hecklers like the NBA does.
“The reason why didn’t get kicked out was because told me he didn’t see what happened," he said. "That’s very understandable. I feel like he kept an eye on him after that. It didn’t bother me after that.
“I think in the NBA there’s a lot of hecklers and stuff like that. They’re pretty strict, the security and everything, that don’t cross the line. If they do, they’re kicked out right away.”
Shapovalov later admitted that the crowd got to him and said he had a lot of love for Rome.
“Obviously I think it’s a heat-of-the-moment kind of thing. I just need to improve with handling myself about that,” he said. "But in terms of going forward, I’ve played in Rome a lot of times. The fans love me here and I love the fans… Even after the match, there were a lot of people standing, waiting for pictures, stuff like that.
“I do really appreciate the sport and the love I get here. I’m super excited to play another match – not against an Italian.”
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