Canadian tennis player Denis Shapovalov lost his temper during his Italian Open match against Lorenzo Sonego on Monday, arguing with the chair umpire and hurling abuses at the crowd. The 23-year-old later apologised for his behaviour.
The video of his angry behaviour is going viral on social media Shapovalov which shows him arguing with the umpire. As the fans boo World number 16, he exclaimed: "Shut the f*** up!"
Shapovalov was furious over a point penalty for hopping the net to point at the mark the ball had made (a line call). The umpire Richard Haigh slapped a code violation on Shapovalov saying he "can't cross the net".
Soon, an argument started between the umpire and Shapovalov and the player was jeered, which saw him lash out at the crowd.
The video was shared on Twitter by doublefault28 on Monday and has received more than two million views and over 3,590 likes.
“Shapovalov is an amazing athlete and always very respectful. I'm sure something really bad must've happened that triggered this reaction. Post the whole picture and not just where he is cursing,” a user commented.
“I'm Canadian and I'm not embarrassed when a person stands up for himself. Tennis crowd is turning into hooligans. Well done, Shapo,” a second user wrote.
“The mental pressure on athletes is extreme and tennis crowd is becoming worse every year. No surprise to see such meltdowns more often,” wrote a third user.
Shapovalov later apologised to the umpire and acknowledged that it was wrong on his part to cross the net. He defeated Sonego 7-6 (7/5), 3-6, 6-3.
The Italian Open is a tennis tournament held in Rome, Italy. It was once known as the Italian International Championships. The men's competition is an ATP Tour Masters 1000 event on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) tour, while the women's competition is a WTA 1000 event on the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) tour.