World No 22 Denis Shapovalov told a fan to “shut up” while complaining to the chair umpire that one fan was “fooling around” too much after having a few more drinks. On Wednesday, Shapovalov defeated Taro Daniel 6-3 7-6 (3) 7-5 to progress into the Australian Open third round.
Down 3-2 in the first set and facing three consecutive break points, Shapovalov voiced his frustration with some fans. “It is excessive! It is so excessive! I mean, they don’t need to be doing that. They have had a beer too much and they are like fooling around, you know?” Shapovalov told the chair umpire.
The chair umpire attempted to cool Shapovalov down but then the Canadian said: “I understand, but it is excessive!” Then, Shapovalov turned to a fan and said: “Shut up!”
“They had a beer too much and now they’re fooling around…” ð»ð¤ª
Denis Shapovalov tells a rowdy spectator to “shut up” ð¤#AusOpen | @denis_shapo pic.twitter.com/lUUTKHWK92 — Eurosport (@eurosport) January 18, 2023
Shapovalov closed out Daniel in three sets
After letting his frustration out, Shapovalov went on to save three consecutive break points in the sixth game of the first set.
Then, Shapovalov earned back-to-back breaks in the seventh and ninth games to win the first set. After losing the first set, Daniel earned his first break of the match in the first game of the second set. However, Daniel’s lead was short-lived as Shapovalov responded with breaks in the second and fourth games to go 3-1 up in the second set.
But just when it seemed that Daniel was down, the Japanese broke back Shapovalov in the fifth game and the second set eventually went into a tie-break. In the tie-break, Daniel had a 3-2 lead before Shapovalov won five consecutive points to take a two-set lead.
In the third set, Daniel broke Shapovalov in the fourth game but got broken back in the fifth game. Shapovalov then broke Daniel in the 11th game for a 6-5 lead, before serving out for the match in the following game. In his next match, Shapovalov plays Hubert Hurkacz, who defeated Lorenzo Sonego.
